First OWS...Complete!

I posted this in the Triathlon Talk forum too but in case anyone only checks this one I wanted to thank you all too!

Completed my first OWS this morning! Though not without incident. Full on panic attack within the first 150yds. As soon as I got out in the water and held onto the dock I told the volunteers that I was terrified (hey, they told me to let them know). In the safety meeting beforehand the RD talked specifically about anxiety and that it was the biggest obstacle during the race (insert anecdote about casualty of IM Louisville last year). I was doing everything I could think of to calm down ahead of time but once I reached the dock and the start line I could just tell I was too afraid to start alone. It was a wave start with the 2.4 mile swimmers going then the 1.2 and half mile swimmers starting 3 minutes later. I stayed far far back. They had a kayak come down just to ride along side me to make me feel better. GOD BLESS THAT MAN. He was so encouraging and really did stay with me through just about the whole race. He talked me down from my hyperventilating and did a good job of taking my mind off of things. I think there were just a lot of elements to get used to that you can't get used to until they happen. Sighting was fine but the waves from the barges and good Lord the current were not things I could really or had really experienced before. I'm happy to report though that I did complete the swim and even did the last 150 or so without the kayak (he wasn't allowed in that area). Everyone was so incredibly supportive of me and I just love how this sport and many others are just such positive experiences. I was panicked and even once I calmed down, still pretty slow but the RD kept radio-ing my kayaker to make sure I was doing alright and complete strangers on the docks were telling me how "Missy Franklin" I looked. It was so much fun and I'm so happy I did it. Still nervous about my tri swim in 2 weeks because of the panic I felt initially but I know that I can rely on my stroke now and my tri swim won't be in a river so no barges and no currents *hopefully*.

Thank you to everyone on BT because I don't think I could have done it without all of your advice through all of the forums and articles available here. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!