When raising your head forward to sight along the course, avoid the urge to breathe when your eyes are looking forward. This is an invitation to catch a mouthful of water. Sight first and then twist your head to the side before you open your mouth to breathe.
Before taking the plunge, many athletes appear to be the epitome of health and fitness: a washboard stomach and sturdy shoulders tapering down to narrow hips and strong legs. But, what happens when they come out of the water? Similar to marathon swimmers throughout the world, many triathletes emerge from the shore with soft or pudgy skin.
The body naturally swells from prolonged exposure to salt or brackish water. As a result, your body can appear bloated when you exit the water, especially when you are in saltwater for over an hour.
There is a physiological phenomenon called third spacing that can also cause your body to appear waterlogged, swollen, soft and pudgy. In human physiology, extracellular fluids are distributed between the interstitial compartment (i.e. tissue) and intravascular compartment (i.e. plasma) in an approximately 75 percent to 25 percent ratio. Body fluids may collect in a third body compartment that isn't normally perfused with fluids. When fluid is trapped in the interstitial spaces in the brain, lungs, abdomen and extremities, this causes a soft or waterlogged effect.
Third spacing can be caused by a loss of electrolytes. This results in extracellular fluids going out of the blood vessels and into the skin tissue. To combat, an athlete can try to hydrate more. As it is, open water swimmers tend to neglect refueling more than other athletes. Ideally, hydration or refueling is done every 12-15 minutes depending on the conditions, physical training and the length of the swim.
Increased hydration, however beneficial, only addresses one cause of third spacing--the loss of electrolytes. The third-spacing effect becomes even more noticeable with an increase in water salinity and the duration of exposure. The body's natural reaction to being submerged for long periods will lead to different results in different people and there is not a lot you can do to combat the swelling.
As experienced marathon swimmers know well, they can appear out of shape, especially around the hips, stomach and thighs, and are generally less photogenic after a long swim--a good reason to take photos of yourself, your teammates and friends before entering the water.