Standalone bike and run races certainly have their place on the sporting calendar, but there\u2019s nothing like the drama of an open-water swim to begin a racing adventure. Whether it\u2019s a lake, river, sea or dock<\/strong><\/a>, the swim leg of a triathlon will dominate the pre-race nerves<\/strong><\/a> for many competitors.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s what makes completing the open-water swim leg of a triathlon all the more rewarding. Doing so will highlight an ability to push your limits and master the most unpredictable discipline in tri, one that comes with waves, currents<\/strong><\/a>, tides<\/strong><\/a>, swell and weeing in your wetsuit.<\/p>\n And to begin your aquatic date with destiny? Take your pick from leaping off a boat at the Norseman<\/strong> (5 Aug) and Escape from Alcatraz<\/strong> (10-11 June) into the bracing liquid below; traversing crashing waves at the Croyde Ocean Tri<\/strong> (2 July) or Ironman Wales<\/strong> (3 Sept) with the crunch of sand underneath; or the deep-water starts seen at the UK\u2019s biggest triathlons of London<\/strong> and Hever Castle<\/strong> (23-24 Sept), as opening options that\u2019ll lodge in your memory for the rest of your life.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> And that\u2019s not forgetting the thrill of the river swim<\/strong><\/a> (hello, the 30+year-old Windsor Triathlon<\/strong>\u00a0(11 June) and the Deva Divas<\/strong> (16 July) in Chester), where swimming downstream can propel you to a Phelps-esque split that\u2019ll be the envy of your swim club.<\/p>\n While the UK boasts some of triathlon\u2019s greatest swim legs \u2013 we haven\u2019t even mentioned Ironman 70.3 Weymouth<\/strong> (17 Sept) \u2013 if you want to race in warmer climes and even experience the balmy joys of a non-wetsuit leg, look no further than Ironman 70.3 Mallorca<\/strong> (13 May), the Cannes International Tri<\/strong> (21 Apr) or the big daddy of them all, the Ironman World Championships<\/strong> (14 Oct for women; men\u2019s will be held in Nice in September<\/strong><\/a>) in Hawaii. There\u2019s just the small matter of qualifying<\/strong><\/a> for the latter\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Top image credit:<\/strong> Nigel Roddis\/Getty Images for Ironman<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n By Matt Baird Published: Tuesday, 10 January 2023 at 12:00 am The sun rises over the water, nervous tension feels the air, heads bob in unison, and there\u2019s an overriding whiff of neoprene. The compere cranks up the tension, fists are bumped and good lucks shared. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":20357,"template":"","categories":[1,23],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/01\/the-best-open-water-triathlons-to-do-this-year-scaled.jpg",2560,1701,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/01\/the-best-open-water-triathlons-to-do-this-year-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/01\/the-best-open-water-triathlons-to-do-this-year-300x199.jpg",300,199,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/01\/the-best-open-water-triathlons-to-do-this-year-768x510.jpg",768,510,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/01\/the-best-open-water-triathlons-to-do-this-year-1024x680.jpg",800,531,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/01\/the-best-open-water-triathlons-to-do-this-year-1536x1020.jpg",1536,1020,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/01\/the-best-open-water-triathlons-to-do-this-year-2048x1361.jpg",2048,1361,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Matt Baird Published: Tuesday, 10 January 2023 at 12:00 am The sun rises over the water, nervous tension feels the air, heads bob in unison, and there\u2019s an overriding whiff of neoprene. The compere cranks up the tension, fists are bumped and good lucks shared. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2,…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/20356"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The best river swim triathlons\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
3 of the best open-water triathlons<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Escape from Alcatraz, 10-11 June 2023
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2023\/01\/escape-from-alcatraz-swimmers-start-boat-leap-e497c04.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Croyde Ocean Tri, 2 July 2023
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2023\/01\/croyde-ocean-triathlon-swim-exit-29849e9.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Ironman Wales, 3 September 2023
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2023\/01\/ironman-wales-swim-start-sunrise-0f64032.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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