While increasing training distances can be extremely beneficial for more experienced swimmers, it can also lead to injury and fatigue if technique is not maintained properly. Lastly, but perhaps one of the most obvious differences between open water swimming and pool swimming are the reasons that people choose to participate in one discipline over the other. Pool swimmers are of course motivated by a love of the sport, but perhaps also by a desire to win or achieve a certain time. In many ways, these external motivators play a larger role in pool swimming than in open water, maybe because there is more recognition available for pool swimmers in the non-swimming community.
