OWS has been in the shadow of pool swimming due to different reasons. It was the coaches who thought OWS negatively affects the results of their swimmers in the pool. However, the successes of top pool swimmer Mellouli (two Olympic golds in 1500m pool and 10km in OWS), and especially the recent successes of Paltrinieri or Wellbrock, have changed this negative paradigm: since the 2012 London Olympics, the interest in OWS has increased. Curiously, OWS indeed allows pool swimmers to achieve better results in pool swimming. Moreover, the longest pool distance (1500m) can for some swimmers be “too short” to demonstrate their genetic endurance predispositions, visible perhaps only after one or two, or even five hours of swimming (5, 10, or 25k in OWS). Unlike power, endurance in athletes peaks in “older” years allowing pool swimmers to prolong their swimming career in OWS instead of abandoning this activity in their late teens, or early 20s.

(more in manual at www.recruiting-ows.eu )