On Saturday morning, June 12th, swimmers will have the opportunity to connect with Erica Rose, former 5K Open Water World Champion and 7-time Open Water World Championship Team member, to work on race-specific tactics and strategies.  Erica spent 12 years on the USA Open Water National Team and is one of the most knowledgeable and experienced open water athletes in the world.  During the clinic, she will focus on the basics of open water swimming – sighting, rounding turn buoys, entering and exiting the water and swimming in a pack. Whether you’re swimming to finish or racing to win, Erica will be able to provide you with last-minute race-day tips to help you reach your goals in which ever distance you choose to swim.  Feel free to come to the clinic prepared with questions – Erica will do her best to customize and personalize the clinic to fit your individual needs.

-         Sighting

• Practice out of the water first, looking for objects on land to use for sighting
• Point out sighting lines on the course

-         Turns

• Emphasize picking up the pace going into turns, not slowing down or stopping
• Practice rounding the buoy – individually and as a pack

-         Running In / Out

• If swimmers want experience practicing this, introduce duck-like run into the water and dolphin dives to gain distance
• Another option would be practicing the start of the swim from a stand-still in the water

-         Swimming in a pack

• Allow swimmers to gain experience in close proximity to one and other, bumping shoulders and swimming for a brief period
• Have swimmers in the back of the pack try to make their way to the front
• Have swimmers in the front of the pack move out of the way if they want to get to the back