Triathlon Swim Warm up

Are you one of those people that gets to a race at 6:30-6:45 when the race starts at 7:00am?

If you are I bet you are not one of the people that warms up before the race starts. I am guessing the start announces your wave is starting in 3 minutes, you walk through the chute, the gun goes off and you before you know it you are around 200 of your best frineds all sprinting for the first buoy. I bet you notice before you even make it to that buoy that is usually 100 yards away or less

You can't breathe.
Your heart is about to beat out of your chest.
You just got kicked in the nose and you swallowed a mouthful nice ocean salt water.

Usually two of the three things above can be avoided with a pre-race warmup. Think about when you start riding your bike, running, or even swimming in practice. Do you start out at 110% effort? No you start out easy and build up to it.

Depending on the distance of the race a warm up is more essential. For me personally the shorter the race the more I need to warm up. A 10 minute swim 15 minutes prior to my start is perfect. It will get me used to the water temperature, allow me time to see what the entry is going to be like, there is nothing like dolphin diving into 8 inches of water, and allows me time to get my heart rate moving.

Just remember a ten minute warm up is not going to make you tired for the rest of the race. It should improve your time. Try it next time and see how it works for you.