Carrying Emergency Swim Gear...

Ask the Race Director if they will allow it or not.

Best guess: not - so I'd suggest getting out there and doing what you need to to overcome this fear a little at a time.

I agree that it probably comes down to race director discretion. I don't suppose it is any comfort for you that there typically numerous lifeguards/divers on the course?

bts

Forget the vest. I will forever be an excuse not to deal with the fear.

Get out there. Get your face in the water. Look at the bottom. Let the weeds touch your legs.

Take your time. You'll know when you're ready. An open water FREAK session is both common and something you can overcome. Hell, I've even freaked in a pool!

Stop hyperventilating. Relax. Think of the basics of your stroke. Go back to the easy things you know instead of the fancy new tricks you've been trying out. Breathe deeply. Breast stroke, side stroke, back stroke, keep your face out of the water if you need to. Finish the tri. A lousy swim only gives you a way to improve your time for next year.

You can do it!

Edited by monkeyboy64 2005-10-04 7:03 PM

Since you suggest wearing an inflatable vest I am assuming your fear is related to drowning or something like that... is that the case why not swimming with a wetsuit? It will make you float, not as much as the vest, but still you won’t sink…

I think the above is pretty good information. My best suggestion is to go (with a buddy who is a decent swimmer!) to a lifeguarded beach. Go out to hip level, swim a few hundred yards, relax, take an assessment of your fears. What happened in that 100 m that you couldn't handle? If theyre big things, stay where you are. If you realize that some of them are just not rational...move a little deeper, repeat. Eventually scoot out to where you can't touch. Tread. Float (on your back and your front). Swim some free, swim some breast. Put your face in the water. You have a buddy, you've got lifeguards, and you've got other people around you, what could possibly happen? There's no sharks, and your splashing is very annoying plus you're 20 times larger than that little blue gill.

But assess your swimming skills in the pool. Is there something about your stroke that makes you feel unstable/insecure in the water? Is your bouyancy bad? Is your fear really of DROWNING or of WATER or of DYING or of ANIMALS...what are you REALLY affraid of?

There's so many variables. If you are a good swimmer, even a half-decent swimmer, drowning is not likely, even in the most hectic of swims due to the number of lifeguards on hand. If you are afraid of water...why is the lake any different than the pool? I had a friend who hollowed out sunglass lenses into her goggles to simulate the murkyness of a lake in the pool. Accept it. Is it Dying? got no drill for you there. Animals are a minimal concern.

I've done two OW sprints thus far and both times I really just forced myself to stay back - started at the back, even slowed down my swimming a bit when I started catching up with hordes of other swimmers. Sounds a little counterproductive, I know, but I'm trying to take on one thing at a time: first, overcome the general stress of getting into unfamiliar waters with a bunch of people. I'm still learning how to just relax as much as I can with this, and be able to get through it. Eventually, I'll move on to the bigger fear of getting into the mix with the other swimmers.

I'm not suggesting you do this. Just telling my story as a different perspective - and to say that it's ok to take the pressure off and do whatever you need to do.

Am I a total wuss? Yep. Do I care? Nope. I refuse to let it stop me from trying...just getting out there anyway. Each tri is a learning endevor. I freaked out a little both times, but you gotta face the fear in order to overcome it, right?

 

Edited by newbiedoo 2005-10-04 9:58 PM

Don't think you are alone in your fear of the swim. I've been swimming literally since before I can remember. Swim teams as a tiny kid through college, high school and college water polo, beach life guard, white water guide, scuba, blue water sailor. Heck, I use to clean sail boat bottoms in nasty, cold and dark harbors which can really be freaky!. Did a few HIM's years ago simply because I knew I could easily do the swim. I started doing tris again this summer.

My first sprint of the season is the closest I have ever come to overwhelmed and freaked in the water. A couple hundred swimmers beside me wrestling for position...going out too fast and then realizing that my wet suit was never made to breast stroke in (my go to mode if there was ever trouble). Another smack to the head..or a mouth full of water would have put me over the edge.

I was a freaked, close to a panic..almost quit right there.... and this from a guy who can swim a couple miles cool turkey after years of being out of the pool.

Thank goodness for the floatation of the wet suit, years of experience and almost drowning several times in the past or I'd have bailed that day from a fear I had never experienced.

Not a big fan of rounding buoys with lots of folks flowdering about. Still not a big fan of swimming in a pack. Enough so now that I keep an eye on everyone around me during the swim. That I'll need to address next season.

Good advice to hang back and swim by yourself if you can. But I would also encourage you to make a bigger effort to get comfortable swimming laps with others before you head out to a race. Get in a TRI at a lake instead of the ocean if that is possible. Easier to deal with the lack of chop on a lake. Get as much time in lakes close to shore as possible. Wait for the wet suit Tris if you think that will help your open water confidence. A bad experience could ruin your first approach and make the next come back even harder. Remember a 300 yard tri is only 150 yards one way...and that is only 4 minutes out!

I suck at running... I laugh at myself everytime I rethink the next swim. I really love to swim. I should be worried about the next run. But it's going to be a long time before I'll be able to put this summer's first tri experience to the back of my mind and laugh about it.

Practice and then decide to just do the darn thing. The swim will be over long before you get it all processed.


Edited by Nob 2005-10-04 11:58 PM

It's an irrational fear but a real one when you are the person in the water. When you are training in a pool you know you are a few feet away from getting out, or even just standing up, at any time. Lots of people find open water swimming very daunting. Try this: enlist the help of someone who has access to a standup paddle board. Do some lake swims with this person running safety for you. They can be as close or as far away as you want them to be. Just make sure they are watching you and paying attention! Then do some solo swims with a towable safety device, and practice stopping and resting with it. Start along shore then gradually go on out. Eventually you will get there.

Hilarious. I replied to a 12 year old post!