Completed First Open Water Swim

I do slow 50-second pool laps.  My open water is considerably quicker.  I do 1 mile between 25-30 minutes.  I think because I purposely don't push off the pool wall too hard and I don't do flip-turns.  I also feel more comfortable in open water where I can fall into a rythm and not be interrupted with turning around every 14 strokes.

Congrats!  I did my first one on Saturday too!  However, I only did about 500yds or so.  It took 11 minutes, so I think I was a bit slower.  The chop really made it tough to site.  I had to stop a time or two to find the buoy. 

Believe me, it felt like way more than a mile. I would have also done better if I would have pushed the pace but with it being my first OWS and being a mile, I didn't want to get overzealous. There were not a lot of swimmers so I swam the majority of the time alone. No one to follow, no one to draft, really bad at sighting... I probably swam at least 1.25

Do you guys mind if I ask a question about OWS? I'm completely new to BT and signed up for my first sprint tri in August - I see you guys and a few others on the forums referring to 'sighting' with regard to OWS - can you tell me what this means? I have a basic idea, but like others I'm just trying to absorb as much info as I can...

Thanks for any info you can offer..!!
-Tim

Since you don't have a clear line of sight to the bottom with a lane line to follow, how do you swim a straight line when swimming in open water?  You have to "sight".  You pick a landmark directly ahead where you want go and/or two large landmarks on each side of you about 135-degrees back from head-on.  45-degrees back from laterally your arms straight out.  If you sight directly ahead, you have to occasionally lift your head.  If you use to landmarks back to either side, you sight with each breath and swim bilaterally or switch breathing from side to side.

Either way, you have to be able to swim in a straight line and it takes practice.  It's harder with current or tide or waves.  If you don't sight well, a 1-mile swim can easily turn into a 1.3-mile swim as you constantly correct your course or worse, stop to tread water or breaststroke and see where in the world you are.  In a race when you fell a kayak paddle smacking you in the head - that's a swim marshal telling you you're swimming in the way wrong direction!

Gotcha - thanks for humoring me! Sorry to be asking such a basic question...now it makes perfect sense...

I love it. I did see that happen several times on Saturday. At least I know I wasn't that far off!