I lined up on the far right as the lake curves and it seemed like the shortest line to the far marker. It was pretty crowded and there was a good amount of contact for the first 200M. It's funny, contact doesn't bother me at all. Maybe growing up swimming, I feel very comfortable in the water and don't panic. As a kid, we used to try and drown eacthother all the time!
Things spread out on the first 500M down leg but there were still a good amount of people rounding the first 2 turn bouys. The second lap I was very much alone, the front group having gapped me. I just swam a very steady, even pace and effort and never felt like I was pushing. A slight wind did seem to pick up and the lake was a bit choppy. By the thrid lap, I was catching people still on their second and used that to do some drafting and navigating around them. I was forced to almost stop and make major course changes to get around bigger groups, but was able to quickly get back into a good rhythm. Obviosuly, Ironman won't have back marker traffic or as many turns. On the final loop, I picked up my turnover and raised the effort for the last 1000M, but still was well within myself.