Open vs. Indoor Water: Pros and Cons

Whether you’re a swimming athlete who needs to find out the best way to train, a future iron man, or simply someone who enjoys swimming, you’ll probably come across a simple question: should you swim in open or indoor water? What’s the best for your type of swimming? What are some of the downsides of each? In this article, we’ll take a look at some pros and cons of each style of swimming.

Open Water Swimming.

Defined quite simply as swimming in a body of water such as a lake, river, or even a sea, open-water swimming often means you’re pitting yourself against nature.

Pros: Open water swimming comes with some terrific advantages. First, you often won’t be restricted to lanes or even swimming times; if you have access to a lake, you usually swim at your own risk. If you’re reasonable about when you swim, this means you don’t have to fall in line with a swimming center’s hours. Open water swimming also means plenty of distance to cover, which is great if you’re training for an endurance event like the ironman competition.

Cons: Open water swimming isn’t without its risks. This is particularly true in the larger bodies of water you choose; in the ocean, you have to contend with undertow and tides, not to mention the potential – even if it’s small – for predator attacks. In lakes, potential problems like allergies and swimmer’s itch can make life inconvenient for the avid swimmer.

Indoor Water Swimming.

Indoor water swimming is more controlled. Having clean water also means that the water comes with other disadvantages. Here are the pros and cons of indoor water swimming.

Pros: Cleanliness is perhaps the first pro, as is a general improvement in safety. Swimming pools aren’t perfectly safe and do come with some great risks, but generally you don’t have to worry about your swimming experience once you’re in the water. The improved cleanliness is a great advantage, as you generally don’t have to worry about wildlife or bacteria getting to you while you swim.

Cons: With the improved cleanliness means a higher degree of maintenance. If you don’t own the pool, you’ll have to conform to someone else’s rules about when to swim and how to do it. An open water dip in the lake can be a much easier thing to do, simply by putting on a pair of swimming trunks and diving in.

Photo Credits: kxande2

Originally posted 2009-09-03 03:52:28.

This post involves:

allergies, athlete, bacteria, bodies of water, body of water, clean water, cleanliness, endurance event, indoor water, iron man, ironman competition, open water, predator attacks, pros and cons, risk, swimmer, swimming pools, swimming times, tides, undertow

... and focuses on:

Swimming

Posted by Bike Swim Run on November 24, 2009 in Swimming. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.