Open water swimming doesn't have to be intimidating. Here's Marc "The Shark" Dubrick's training tips — from sighting and buoy turns to fueling and gear.
Why I'm Called Marc the Shark
Honestly, I wish I had a better story. I think my grandpa might have started it, but I don't really know. What I do know is that I've leaned into it — and for me it means more than just being a good swimmer.
The shark mentality is about not giving yourself excuses before the race. It's about giving yourself a chance to succeed no matter what. Don't count yourself out before anything happens. In professional sports and long distance racing, anything can change. If you just keep giving yourself reasons to succeed and keep pushing through adversity — it pays off. That's what I want it to stand for.
Get in the Open Water — That's Rule Number One
Race directors are being quicker and quicker to cancel or shorten swims. And a huge reason for that is that people just aren't swimming in open water. There's no prerequisite to sign up for a triathlon — anyone can do it. So you have to take your own preparation seriously.
The best way to get better at open water is to actually go do it. Safely — with a buddy buoy (it's a tether that goes to your hip), a kayak, or a friend. But get in there. The more people you swim with the better. Running into each other, hitting hands and feet — that's all natural. It happens in the pool too. It builds awareness, and awareness is everything in open water
Sighting and Swimming Straight
For age groupers, swimming straight is the most important thing. If you can swim straight, you are saving so much energy and time. Pros can draft off feet — age groupers are mostly on their own, so every meter counts.
Here's how I practice sighting in the pool: sight once per 25. Lift your eyes just barely out of the water, find a target — the block, a cone, your water bottle on the cool deck — put your head back down, and reset your hips. When you lift your head, your hips drop. So you have to reset every time.
And don't always sight directly in front of you. In a real race, the buoy is almost never perfectly straight ahead. Practice sighting a little left, a little right — because you need to be able to correct yourself without stopping your momentum.
One of my favorite drills: swim with your eyes closed. Line yourself up aimed at a buoy or a target, swim 10 strokes at race pace, then stop and open your eyes. See where you ended up. That tells you your natural drift. If you always go left when breathing to your right, you know to compensate during a race.
And if you can feel a current while you're swimming — look at the lane ropes under the water, they'll show you which way it's blowing — just angle yourself slightly into it and hold that line the whole way to the buoy.
Buoy Turns — Don't Sleep on This
A lot of people just stop when they hit the buoy. Don't do that. Take the last two, three, four strokes hard around the buoy — have a clear start and stop point right after it. It sounds small but you can make up real time there, and in a race it adds up.
During COVID when we had no pools, I was doing all my swims in open water for six months with two or three buoys. Swimming around the buoy is genuinely a skill. Practice it.
Goggles — The Basics That Matter
My number one tip is anti-fog spray. I use Arena Instant Spray — you don't need to rinse it, it's safe for your eyes, and it is a game changer. Being able to see clearly in dark morning water when you're already dealing with nerves and congestion — it matters.
I spray about 20-25 minutes before the swim start. Even if you have to rinse slightly after, it still works.
For keeping goggles on your face: I always put my goggles under my swim cap so the cap overlaps and covers the edge. When you're running into the water from a beach start, the cap deflects the impact instead of the goggles taking it directly. If it's cold, I go thermal cap first, then goggles, then race cap on top. Two layers of cap, goggles secured underneath.
For Nervous Swimmers — You're Going to Be Okay
I've felt scared in the water in races. When there are so many people around buoys, it gets real. Contact is going to happen. If someone is on your feet, they are not doing it on purpose — it's just part of it. Kick a little more, make yourself aware of the space, and keep moving.
For a true beginner: there are lifeguards next to you the entire time. Flotation devices are on the outside of the course. You are not disqualified if you stop and tread water. You are not disqualified if you hold onto a device. Take your time. Breathe.
And if you panic — roll onto your back. Do a few double arm backstroke strokes. Take some deep breaths. It will pass.
The best thing you can do to not be scared is to have done the work. Trust the practice you've put in. If you haven't been in open water much, that's where to start — not race week.
Training Tools — What I Actually Use
If I had to rank them: snorkel first, pull buoy second, paddles third — and fins I never use personally, though I'm not against them.
The snorkel is underrated. I use it for symmetry, for kick sets in a streamline position, and in warm-up. I never use a kickboard — when you kick with a kickboard, your head is up and your hips sink. With a snorkel in streamline, your body is in a swimming position, and you're actually training the right thing.
For the pull buoy: I use it at the ankles, not just the hips. At the ankles it's harder — you can't lean on it as a crutch, you have to lift your own hips. It shows you what high hips actually feel like.
Paddles: there is a time and place, but people abuse them. They jump to paddles when they are tired, and now they are just reinforcing bad form at full resistance. Never use them in a warm-up. Form first, always.
On watches in the pool: I almost never use one. When people finish a length with a watch on, they touch it and lose one or two strokes every single turn. Bad habit. I use a watch in open water to log the session and share on Strava — that's it.
How I Structure Swim Training
If you can swim three times a week for an hour, here's how I'd structure it: one speed day, one tempo or race pace day, and one equipment or mixed strokes day.
Speed day: 400-500 warm up, some drills, then your main set in 50s and 100s with varied rest, no equipment. Tempo day: longer reps, building toward a 2000 meter main set. Mixed day: equipment work, and don't skip the other strokes. Backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly — they all come back to water awareness and they transfer to open water in ways you don't expect.
I'd also add: stop going straight 1000s. Maybe once or twice a month at most. And if you have access to open water, use it for longer reps — no walls, no rest, no momentum from a push. That is what a race actually feels like.
And join a club or a masters team if you can. Even once a week. You get structure, a coach watching you, waves in the pool, people around you. You'll learn faster and you'll actually want to show up.
Fueling for Swimming — Yes, You Need to Do This
People really overlook hydration and fueling for swimming. Every morning, no matter what, I eat oatmeal, two eggs, and a coffee. On a hard swim day, I have a second coffee on the way to the pool and I'm already sipping a concentrated Skratch bottle — around 80 grams of carbs — before I even get in.
On my two main swim days — Tuesdays and Fridays — I take a gel right after the warm-up, about 1000 meters in. I really notice the difference in energy through the rest of the session.
When I'm in the main set, I go to the bottle every two or three reps. A quick sip. That's why I keep my bottle concentrated — when you only have 15 seconds of rest at the wall, you can't take a long drink. Make it count.
The bigger point: if you have a big training day ahead of you and you go hard in the pool for an hour without taking in any carbs, you are starting your day in a hole. The trend toward high-carb fueling applies to swimming, too. Get the carbs in — so why not start in the swim?
Wetsuits — You Don't Need the Most Expensive One
I work with Blue70 now so take this with that context — but honestly this applies to every brand. You do not need the top tier suit. The one right below it gets you 95 to 97 percent of the way there at a lot less cost. Think of it like Dura-Ace versus Ultegra on a bike. The Ultegra is going to get you almost all the way there.
What matters more than which suit you buy: get the right size. It should feel tight. That's normal. And then practice in it before race day. Wear it in the pool. Your shoulders will be sore the first time because that neoprene is restricting your movement — you have to get used to it. And always rinse it after pool use. Chlorine is just as damaging as salt water.
