Something strange happened

I told myself I was not going to start a " I finished my first tri, pat me on the back " thread.  But. 

So I did my first tri(sprint) yesterday with the goal of getting thru the swim.  I was affraid I would even need to stop and float/rest.  The men started first and I lined up in the back to the outside of the first turn.  Everybody runs in at the start and I wait for about 5-10 sec before I even move.  Swim seems to be going well at the half way point, but navigation off a little.  I look back and am suprised by the number of pink caps behind me (men were in pink).  So I decide to switch from freestyle to the combat swim/side stroke and did that for most of the remaining half of the swim.  One guy caught up but nobody passed me while I was side stroking.

So the strange part.  I was 17th out of the water overall (~150).  I started, considering success not drowning.

The other strange part, my biking is not as strong as I thought.