Help me! Swimming in tidal waves!

swim next to the "cool" guy at the pool who insists on doing butterfly, because it's Olympic week. 

No places to train in open water? Hmm...

In all seriousness, if you can, swim next to someone much bigger than you, preferably with bad technique, who is making large waves, and be conscious to hug (swim right next to) the lane line. Sounds weird, I know, but it's decent practice for swimming in people's wakes. I will do this at my pool. I won't share lanes with this type because I hate getting smacked - in a race, it's fine. But the wake washing over me while I'm trying to breathe, etc is helpful to get used to.

But yeah, simply getting stronger and more confident in the water will help.

I had OWS night at my pool the other day. There was one lane blocked off in the middle of the pool, and on one side was the Kayaking Newbie Group Class practicing rocking violently back and forth in their kayaks.

On the other side was Open-Swim-Mania, with children, teens, adults, and one very large dude sorta swimming next to the lane rope.

I think there were actual cresting waves! I was surprised there was any water left in the pool. All I needed was a couple people in my lane with me to simulate body checks and I'd have been all set!

I've heard one suggestion of keeping your eyes closed when underwater to force yourself to pop up and sight as you swim along.  Personally, I tried it and found I could NOT keep my eyes shut.

Even an OWS every couple weekends is much better than none at all.

It's hard to replace a real OWS. Pool swims are great for basic training, but are going to come up short when it comes to waves, murky water and wild critters. Sorry there isn't a more reliable answer, but planning a few OWS will go a long way toward preparing you for the unexpected.

Cheers 

Thanks for the suggestions, they actually help a lot. I would probably end up swimming into the wall if I kept my eyes shut, but it's not a bad idea. The OW swim night would be great, I haven't ever heard of anything like that. The rec center 5min from my house doesn't even have lap lanes, so I have to drive 25min to the nearest YMCA.

Are there any Cleveland people who know of any places to swim open water or any training groups? I live in Broadview Heights, I justmoved here from Cinci a couple months ago and haven't found anything. The metroparks are awesome to run/bike in though!

I have a pond you can train in-just watch out for the carp, pond scum and flesh eating bacteria. Really very quaint though. Just dont tell the homeowners association you know me or they will send me a strongly worded letter.

OH MY LORD!  That is awesome! 

You are def lucky rottieguy, Michigan is beautiful, although a bunch of my friends who went to Ohio State would disagree :-) 

Ironically, my mom & stepdad took a trip to Torch Lake in Michigan this week (stepdad grew up there). I didn't go because I had a tri planned & I knew it would be a bad week at work. That would have been a great place to get some training in. I do have Lake Erie but it's still a little far, and I'm not sure where there are places to swim.

Perhaps they didn't want me to go though now that I think about it... they picked the one week I said wouldn't work for me :-)