Gaining experience in open water（在公开水域中获取经验）

小臭贝

This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week comes from Erica Rose, an eight-time open water national champion. Rose, who will vie for a chance to compete at the 2008 World Championships this weekend, offers advice to swimmers looking to gain experience in the sport.  
本周的Speedo贴士来自埃里卡.罗斯。她是一位全职公开水域游泳的国家冠军。本周末，她将竞争2008世界锦标赛的资格。她给游泳运动员带来了一些关于在公开水域游泳中获得经验的建议。

One of the most important qualities an athlete can have in open water swimming is experience in the sport. Whether you’re just starting to get into open water swimming or whether you’ve been doing races for years, you should be constantly thinking about ways to get involved in more swims and to gain experience in competitions.
运动员在公开水域游泳中，能够获得的一个最重要的特质就是经验。不论你是刚准备开始在公开水域中游泳，还是你已经进行这项运动很多年了，你应该总是会想到一些方法来参与更多的游泳比赛，并从中获得经验。

When you’re racing in a pool, you know what to expect. The conditions are pretty much the same each time you dive in the water for a race. However, when you enter the water for an open water event, you need to be prepared for all sorts of different conditions. It might be hot, it might be cold and you might encounter waves, currents or aquatic life. If you have experience dealing with different settings and different circumstances, you will be more comfortable than your competition and you will be able to focus your energy on racing rather than on other distractions.
当你在泳池中游泳的时候，你知道会发生什么。每次当你跳入水中，情况都是那么相似。然而，当你参加一场公开水域赛事的时候，你需要准备好面对各种不同的环境。可能会很热，可能会很冷，你也可能遇到波浪、水流，甚至浮游生物。如果你已经对处理不同的环境有了一定的经验，你就可以把你的精力集中到竞赛上来，而不是别的让人分心的事情上。

I would encourage young swimmers to start with short open water swims and work their way up to longer distances. Compete in races where you start both in the water and where you have to run in for the start. Also do races in cold water and in hot water. Try “sprint” races that challenge you to keep your speed up the entire time, as well as races that test your endurance and your ability to pace yourself.  
我鼓励年轻的游泳运动员先开始短距离的公开水域游泳，然后慢慢增加距离。在冷水和热水中竞技（应该是适应各种水环境的意思）。试着“冲刺”游法，这可以挑战你在整个时间内保持高速的能力，也可以游一些可以测试你耐力和控制自己比赛节奏的能力的游法。

Since most of us start swimming in pools, we need to learn to transfer our knowledge and skills from that setting into the world of open water. Ask yourself the same questions after an open water race as you do when you get out of the pool. Were you quick at the start? Was there a point in the race where you started to get tired? Did you sprint into the finish? How were your turns – were people passing you or did you make up time going around the buoys? The only way to answer these questions and to learn from mistakes is to GET EXPERIENCE racing in open water.
因为我们大多数人，都是在泳池中游泳的，我们需要学会把我们的知识和技术都转换到公开水域中去。在公开水域比赛后，要像在泳池中比赛后一样，问问你自己同样的问题。比如在出发的时候，是否够快？是否在比赛的某个点，开始觉得疲劳？在最后阶段是否冲刺了？转身做的如何？是否其他人超过了你？能够回答这些问题，并从失误中学习的唯一方法就是在公开水域比赛中取得经验。

So get out there and have fun! Test it out and see what it’s all about. I would be willing to bet that the more you race in open water, the more you’ll realize that you would much rather be swimming in a river, lake or ocean than back and forth along that boring black line!
好了，让我们放下这一切，去玩的开心点！试试看这是什么样的感觉。我很愿意打赌，你在公开水域游的越多，你越会意识到比起沿着烦人的线不停的打来回，你更喜欢在河、湖，甚至是海里游泳！