In the same way that coaching approaches change based on race distance in the pool, there are apparent differences in the way coaches approach training for open water athletes. Kelsheimer, who coaches both pool and open water swimmers at Team Santa Monica in California, explains that one major difference in training for open water is the focus on high yardage rather than speed. He also notes that the “problem with volume is that you really don’t have time to do much of anything else, so it can be hard, though not impossible, to train for both disciplines effectively.
