I'm a triathlete now, too, but... (Page 2)

... so, having the same first OW swim experience, how is it now?

I have just registered for the Callaway Gardens Labor Day Sprint Tri (1k swim/30k bike/8k run ... located in your neck of the woods) and I face the swim w/ great trepidation.

Wondering how you fared during the rest of the season. Did you find a happy place + it got easier?

Well done man, congratulations. I'll add my voice to the masses. Had the exact same experience. The best indicator of my horrible swim was my T1 time. Loooong. I was shell shocked. What really changed my mind about this was my 2nd tri. I didn't kick butt in the water, but I did a heck of a lot better. You can too. Keep it up.

Yup, you're totally normal. When you think about it, it's just evolution - it goes totally against the survival instinct to swim out INTO the middle of a lake. I always chill when I start to head back - and if I was doing a start from a boat, I'd be okay the whole way. Just keep at it.

Oh, and swim towards the right buoy (see my race reports for details on that).

Well, I took Karl's (Motivated's) advice and reapplied myself to swimming.  I found a "0-1650yd" Swim plan that gave me some structure to work on my endurance.  I swam my first mile in the pool on June 29th.  Also, I did a Reverse Triathlon (run, bike, swim) on June 4, but the swim was a pool swim, so I hung on each end and caught my breath.

Overall, my swimming has improved dramatically.  Just today I did 1500m in just over 30 min. and felt like I could have kept going.  Also, I spent last week at a camp on a lake.  I took my goggles and did some open water swimming and didn't get completely freaked out.  I have to work on my sighting a bit, but my swimming has come a long way.  I'm not the fastest swimmer you've ever seen, but I am confident that I can survive the swim.

My next tri will probably be High Falls State Park Tri on 20 AUG and perhaps the one at Callaway (This is the first I've heard of it and it's a bit longer than I'm used to).  But, I'm not worried about the swim like I was for my first one.

30 minutes for 1500m is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, if I swam it in that time, EVERYONE in the world would hear about it!

Good for you for sticking with it.

my husband and i had different reactions to your post. i, being the swimmer in the family, though 'oh, that's too bad. i hope he gives it another chance.' while bill, who is NOT a swimmer, said 'he needs to do a duathlon!'. hee hee. as everyone has said already, it probably will get better. i used to dread the run after having fun on the swim and bike, and now running is one of my favorite things to do. i hope you do try another tri...and maybe mix it up with a duathlon or two.

Hey..my two cents: I have a long, though not glorious, history of swimming, just one of those things that comes naturally- unlike running! I knew I was terrified of OW, but thought I'd just plug through it anyways, and I totally freaked out way more than I thought I would too. Ironically, I felt better that there were people next to me. So, it's not the swimming, it's the water- at least for me. Lakes I may be able to get used to, but ocean swimming is out- forever! Dunno what your plan is but I was thinking just more OW practice, with some friends along for support. Good luck!

Don't give up, I have recently overcome the "swim freak", and now I really like the swim. Here's my brief story...1st very short sprint.....freaked. 2nd very short sprint in the spring...went fine (I think it was so short I didn't have time to freak...4 1/2 minutes). Third sprint...1/3 mile, awful, pretty much breast stroked the whole thing. I had already signed up for a 1/2 iron the next week (I had done several 1.2 open water swims alone or with one other person and was fine), so I knew I had to get it together. A couple of things I knew...

1. It is ALL mental. I can swim.
2. A good warm up is crucial. There is something called "dive shock" when your face first enters cold water, that makes you feel like you can't breathe. You need to do a good warm up (actual swimming, no just dunking under).
2. I can breathe while swimming with my face in the water.
3. I can't drown in a wetsuit.
4. Breastroke is physically harder than freestyle, both muscular and respiratory, "plowing" the water as opposed to "floating" on top of it.

I knew I could NOT have a miserable swim for 1.2 miles. I told myself that no matter what, I was not going to do breastroke, because once you start to start, it is very hard to put your face back in the water. I said "Panic all you want girl, but keep your face in!". I focused on...

1. Swimming VERY slowly with long strokes (i.e. long breath also) when I felt the freak.
2. Focusing on turning my face to the sky (makes certain I have time for a long breath, and makes me think of air, not water).

Guess what? It worked. Had an initial slight panic when I first entered the water with other people...wasn't even swimming yet, felt I couldn't breathe, considered backing out...silly! But...it went away during my warm up. About 5 minutes into my swim, I had about 30 seconds in the water in which I tried to freak, but kept my face in and would not allow it. I swam 1.2 miles (slowly and off-course) but perfectly calmly! Got out of the water smiling, knowing know matter what happened with the rest of the race, I had conquered my swim demons! My next weekend, next race (an oly), had about a 20 second freak, and that was it, the rest was calm. I just figured I would have a short freak at every race, which is okay, because then I know how to overcome it. However, the next weekend, another half-iron, completely smooth, no freak at all...waited for it in the beginning, but it never happened! You CAN do this, and when you "get it", you'll love it! I recommend open water practice every single chance you get. If you are scared, do this...Swim six strokes out, six back, 10 strokes out, 10 back, etc. Baby steps. You will learn to trust yourself in the water. Or get a friend/kid to go along with a rubber raft for security.
Don't give up, this is SO normal. Just think how proud of yourself you will be when you overcome your "swim demons" too!