I jumped in the pool and sank like a rock, I feel like quitting (Page 2)

I feel your pain.  when I got in the pool 4 years ago I was a disaster.  Used my 8 and under stroke and was gased after 25 yards.  I felt like a mile was never possible.

 I talked to a friend and he reccomended a book "total immersion".  I read that book, did some of the drills, and within about 5 weeks I could hop in the pool and swim a mile no problem.  even did 2 miles a few times.  Try the book, try the drills, get your balance in the water, and things will come along easy.

 Don't give up with a bad start.  I guarantee, with some effort, you can get it down and feel comfortable in the water.

 Good luck! and keep you head down.

I swam competitively in high school. Swimming is largely a core workout.

I suggest some pilates. Like someone said, you are dropping your hips thus your core needs training. Pilates will definetly help stregnthen your core.

Today couldn't have been more frustrating. I've been circling doing Triathlons for a long time. My wife does them and I've always been interested, but afraid of the swimming. After she completed the Ironman this year I was inspired and so I rented, then bought a wetsuit. I started open water swimming and a few weeks later I did a sprint. I wasn't fast, but I had fun and was able to pair my ability to walk and my ability to cycle well with the better flotation provided by the wetsuit to have a successful day. I've seen begun training for an olympic. I regularly bike much longer than 12 miles, so the bike isn't really a problem. I'm walking/running regularly, so that seems to be in good shape. And I've done a number of duathlons and one sprint, so I was confident that I could get ready by Black Diamond (Sept. 14th). At least until today.

I decided I wanted to improve my swim stroke and thus my speed/efficiency. So I decided to jump in the pool today for the first time in a long time. It was a disaster. My legs sank immediately. Not sank like a little bit, but sank like my toes dragged. I don't know where to go from here. I couldn't drill, because I couldn't float for the most part. At least not from the waist down. I don't know what to do. Training has been going fine. I'm losing weight. I'm increasing my running/walking speed with every time I go out. My swims are getting better each time I go out, but now I'm worried that I'll never be able to improve my swim, that fundamentally I should be able to swim in the pool. And that maybe I'll injure myself because of a poor stroke and thus be athletically and generally hobbled as a result. I'm demoralized to say the least. I just about tossed my goggles in the trash when I was done.

I swam competitively in high school. Swimming is largely a core workout.

I suggest some pilates. Like someone said, you are dropping your hips thus your core needs training. Pilates will definetly help stregnthen your core.

which reminds me - OP look for balance drills...

The likely candidates seem to be "Triathlon Swimming Made Easy: The Total Immersion Way for Anyone to Master Open-Water Swimming"