How much OWS practice?

Get in as much OWS time to ensure three things:

1.  Make sure the waves and choppiness of the water doesn't make you sea sick

2.  Make sure the added buoyancy of your wetsuit does not make you motion sick

3.  Practice sighting on things to keep from zig-zagging.

Maybe someone esle can add to this but I'm thinking, water is water.....of course salt water is different than fresh water.

~Mike

x2

plus make sure you can use your goggles and see with the sun rising in the sky. More ows practice is always better. Come June I barely ever swim at the pool any more. I'll start ows as soon as possible probably in May. The view is so much better, doesn't smell and it is really fun 

As soon as I can tolerate the water with my wetsuit I likely will not be in a pool until October. I so much prefer OWS.

It's more than just a comfort issue (once you are over any of those issues).  Fast OWS'ing is a different animal than fast pool swimming.  It requires a slightly different skill set if you want to be at the FOP.  Tactics such as drafting, getting around traffic, figuring out how to deal with waves and currents, picking a good line, sighting, etc, are all skills that will help you become FOP aside from being a fast pool swimmer. 

I'm not saying any of the other advice is wrong - try to practice outside, but I didn't need it.  I practiced a couple times in the pool before the race with my wetsuit and practiced sighting.  Don't get me wrong, I WANTED to get a couple OW swims in, but logistically, it wasn't going to work for me.  I had absolutely NO problem during the event.

But let me note:  I love to swim, used to be a lifeguard, scuba dive, etc.  I feel completely at home in the water and had no fears of the swim.  I was a little aprehensive of the so called "washing machine" of hundreds of people starting all together, so I decided to take BT advice and start towards outside edge of the main pack.  I realized quickly that I was able to get ahead of the main pack pretty quickly and have my space.  I'm not the best swimmer, but almost alway get out of the water in the top 20% of swimmers.

Exactly!  

Good point.  A group won't simulate the wave start, but it'll help some.  It's also safer.  And as every one has said, the less comfortable you are, the more practice you need.

If you have an ocean swim coming up, I'll follow you and zap you with a small taser to simulate the jelly fish.

Another thought, if your OW area has pylons, or a diving deck or something that your can swim around, simulates the Buoys that mark the course.    Practice swimming in a curving arc.   The turns around Buoys are chokepoints and whether you can sprint to the inside, or be safe and go wide is nice to know.

Practice stopping and threading water while putting goggles back on.   Nothing worse than the have screwed up goggles with water inside/leaking and people plowing over you.