Open Water Swimming ANXIETY!

Everyone gets open water swim anxiety.  You are not alone.  We all have a reptilian brain that gets triggered during open water swimming.  

Is your anxiety based on other swimmers bumping into you?  Race day nerves?  Can't handle water splashing into your face while breathing?  You should identify what causes the most anxiety and then simulate it in training conditions so that it is less fear.  If you gain confidence handling it in training, then when it happens during a race it will be a non-event.

Try a master's swim class so you can swim with other people in a crowd.  If you can, find one that's triathlon oriented and ask to be jostled and dunked.  My triathlon club has regularly had six people in a lane sessions just for this.

Are there any lakes nearby that have regularly swimmers?  There are a couple in my area that have Facebook groups and regular meet-ups.  Then you can swim in the lake with others and get used to the dark water, splashing, etc.

Positioning during the start of the race helps.  A lot of races are dropping mass starts (in water or run-in starts) for time trial starts where people walk in side by side or individually.  Few races do this anymore: IM Arizona 2008 swim start (yeah, I'm in there, way in the back).  At IM 70.3 Victoria this year they had a time trial start with pace signs just like a marathon.  If you thought you'd be swimming in 45 minutes, stand by that sign.  If 35, then stand by that sign.  Nobody was swimming over anyone.  It was great.

First, this is completely NORMAL! The people that don't have this have just learned to push it down into a little box in their brain and get on with the task of swimming and getting out of the water. It's a thin veneer -- few are those who can remain completely calm in all conditions.

A few things that may help.

* Your body has a natural "gasp reaction" when putting your face in the water, especially cold water (and it doesn't need to be all that cold). Basically your body thinks you're drowning, and wants to hold onto the air in your lungs until your face is out of the water again. So if you just jump in the water and start swimming, you end up trying to exhale AND inhale during that short portion of the stroke when your face is, indeed, above water. It doesn't work, and you end up getting a panic/short of breath feeling. Any bumping just adds to it, and can lead to genuine terror. To get past this, spend some time in the water before the start (preferably right before the start) and get past the gasp reaction. It can take as little as 30 seconds to a minute, but get to where you can comfortably exhale in your stroke with your face in the water. Relax into it. Let your stroke get long and gliding, and exhale before you bring your face up to get that next lungful.

* Where you place yourself in a mass start can make a huge difference. The extra distance of being to the outside of the group is miniscule. Look out into the water -- which direction is the first turn? If you turn right at the first buoy, then line yourself up to the left side of the group, and vice-versa. Don't aim straight for that first buoy, but a bit to the outside, so that you don't get caught in a crush of bodies all trying for the pole position. Some people who really don't care to get into a water melee will just remain for a 5- or 10-count before starting to swim after the whistle blows (or cannon sounds, or whatever start signal sends every one off to the big blue yonder).

Hope that helps.

You've gotten a lot of good tips.  Reducing contact comes down to positioning and the lines you take.  In most triathlons its hard to completely avoid contact unless you're off the front or off the back. 

How do you let it not bother you? 

First, be super confident in your ability to handle the distance.  Not saying this is you but I suspect swim anxiety for some is going to higher for those swimming distances at the edge of their ability.  The distance really needs to be over-trained.  Someone swimming 500-750 in practice will have generally be more worried about a 500 yard swim than someone that regularly swims 1500-2500 in practice.  The extra endurance from tackling longer practice sets gives one confidence to handle less than perfect conditions on race day.

Second, get use to it through simulations in practice. 

Practicing swimming 3 wide in a lane with your swim friends.  I guarantee you'll have contact and you'll develop strategies for coping with it...small changes in direction, narrowing your stroke, speeding up or slowing down. 

I'm not a big fan of hypoxic sets but, for me, they help you develop a tolerance for not getting a breath exactly when you want it.  Practice this by swimming a 200 breathing every 3/5 by 50 ... it will prepare you for the next time a competitor accidently dunks your head ... you'll just regroup and catch a breath on the next cycle. 

Not really in reply to what Joel posted, but to add... Develop the ability to take a breath out either side of your stroke. That gives you more options in OWS to switch sides in case of sunlight in your eyes, waves coming from a certain direction, or needing to get that breath sooner rather than waiting for the next full stroke cycle.

It all starts within yourself.  Your mind is very powerful and you can think of it always wanting to be right.  

If you approach a swim anxious and thinking "this is going to be horrible" VOILA!  You'll likely experience exactly that.  

If you approach the swim calmly and looking forward to a relaxing swim, you'll likely experience that too.  

Getting to "calm" takes practice and skills, but if you approach every swim as if it's a nightmare, it'll take a long, long time.  Channel your inner sea turtle or dolphin and it goes much faster.  

As others have said, get out into open water a few times.  Start at the back and outside (I tell people count to 15, and if watching people thrash around makes you anxious, turn around and face the spectators.)  

Just to be clear, "calm without skill" is just plane dangerous.  When you go into the water, you need to be confident you can complete the swim without aid from the lifeguards.  I was a lifeguard and swim instructor...you do not want to trust your life to someone like me!