April’s drill comes to us from recently-retired world champion triathlete Rebekah Keat, now a coach. Keat is the fourth-fastest female IRONMAN in history, and has more than 25 IRONMAN and half IRONMAN podiums to her name. She and wife Siri Lindley, also a former world champion triathlete, now run Team Sirius Tri Club.

Keat’s drill is for practicing open water “sighting,” which is how swimmers stay on-course during a triathlon or general open water swim.

“Basically it’s a sighting drill where you include the eyes looking up very quickly and turning head to breathe as normal without losing rhythm and incorporating sight into the breath,” Keat said. “A straighter arm works great for this, but also is great for open water with chop and waves.”

HOW TO PERFORM THE SIGHTING DRILL:
1. Swim freestyle with a straight arm.
2. Look up as you breathe, incorporating the breath and the sighting into one movement.
3. Keep in mind that you are not lifting your head for a water polo-type head-up stroke. Instead, you look up quickly as you take a regular breath.

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