From Pool to Open Water: Learning to Sight

Taking stock of their surroundings before entering the water

There is a particular kind of open water panic that has nothing to do with the cold or the depth. It is the moment you lift your head, look around, and realise you have swum thirty metres off course, straight towards a paddleboarder who was definitely not part of the plan.

Sighting is the skill that fixes this. It sounds technical, but it is one of the simplest things to learn in open water swimming, and one of the first things worth practising before your first triathlon or open water event.

What is sighting?

Sighting is how open water swimmers navigate without a lane line to follow. In a pool, the black line on the floor and the ropes either side do the work for you. In open water, there is nothing but a buoy in the distance and your own sense of direction, which is far less reliable than it feels in the moment.

To sight, you lift your eyes just above the surface of the water for a split second, spot your next marker (a buoy, the shoreline, a landmark on the bank), and then drop your head back down to carry on swimming. Done well, it barely interrupts your stroke.

Every open water swimmer sights differently depending on conditions, but the goal is always the same: know where you are going, then get your head back down as quickly as possible.

Sighting techniques

Alligator eyes

This is the technique most coaches teach first. Instead of lifting your whole head out of the water, you lift just enough for your eyes to break the surface, like an alligator watching the bank. Your goggles stay wet, your body position barely changes, and you lose almost no speed.

Try it: on your next breath cycle, lift your eyes for a glance forward instead of turning fully to the side. Spot the buoy, then rotate into your normal breath.

Sight, breathe, stroke

A common rhythm is to sight on one stroke and breathe on the next, rather than trying to do both at once. Lift your eyes to check your line, drop your head, take your next stroke, then breathe to the side as usual. Separating the two actions keeps your form steadier and stops you gulping water mid-sight, which is one of the most common reasons swimmers avoid sighting in the first place.

Photo credit: Lorraine Leckenby

Sighting your surroundings

Buoys move less than you think, but glare, waves and other swimmers can hide them completely. Pick a fixed point beyond the buoy when you can, a building, a tree line, a flag, anything tall and still on the bank. It is far easier to hold a line towards something that will not disappear behind a wave.

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Taking in the full view of the lake

Frequency over intensity

New open water swimmers often oversight, lifting their head every few strokes out of nerves, which wastes energy and breaks momentum. Others undersight and drift before correcting. A good starting rhythm is to sight every six to ten strokes, adjusting based on how straight the water is and how confident you feel. In choppier water or a crowded start, sight more often. In calm water with a clear line, you can go longer between checks.

Practise it before race day

Sighting under pressure, in a wetsuit, surrounded by other swimmers, feels nothing like practising it alone in a calm pool. If you can, try out sighting in open water at least once before your event: swim a few strokes, sight, swim some more, sight again, and get used to how different it feels with waves, cold water and other people around you.

Practicing around the buoy, ahead of race day

Key takeaway

Sighting is not about swimming with your head up. It is about brief, efficient glances that keep you on course without breaking your rhythm. Like most open water skills, it feels awkward the first few times and then becomes automatic with practice.