practicing OWS safely??

not sure where you are at in the country but are you swimming with a wetsuit or without? If you have a wetsuit then you should be fine. They provide enough buoyancy that you do not have to worry to much, if you get to tired simply flip onto your back or otherwise float. You can use any stroke you want to swim so you are not restricted to freestyle. Are you practicing in a lake, a river, the oceaon??? all of those make a difference as to how to approach safety. I swim in lakes so I can usually pick a route around certain marker/speed buoyes and swim to/around them. The biggest thing for safety though is never swim alone if you can avoid it. Have someone at least on shore, better is swimming with you and best is paddling next to you in a kayak or canoe that you can at least grab onto should you get to tired. Good luck!

I just started swimming in a lake.   I never thought of swimming along the buoy line.  That's a great idea. 

I recently moved to Idaho from Alaska, so I have a drysuit, but not a wetsuit, and I would die of heat in the drysuit.   Maybe I should really look into selling the one and getting a wetsuit.

I'll try to find someone that can go with me.  That would probably help the freak out factor as well. 

Thanks for your help.

In the lake I practice in, the swimming area is long and next to the shoreline, so you can stand up at any point. Maybe you could find a stretch where you could stand up if needed?

Also be sure to wear a brightly-colored swim cap and make sure you and your swim partners know the "signal" for help or danger (like a whistle or something).

The drysuit comment leads me to guess you're a scuba diver.  Just a heads-up, when you're looking for a wetsuit be sure to look at triathlon wetsuits.  They're very different than a diving wetsuit.

Jason

No, I'm not a scuba diver, the drysuit was for rafting in glacier water, and very cold weather.  A wetsuit doesn't cut it when the water temp is about 38 degrees. 

Thanks for the heads up though, I kinda thought a wetsuit was a wetsuit.  I probably would have learned the difference when I started shopping, but then again, maybe not.  That would have been a real bummer.  I have lots to learn!