Do you fear open water swimming? (Page 2)

I don't like swimming in lakes for 2 reasons: gators and parasites (Florida resident).

I love swimming in the Gulf. I love choppy conditions, big waves - separates the strong from the weak. I strongly prefer no wetsuit.

There are times that I do get an irrational fear that sharks are waiting to attack. I recognize it for the irrational fear that it is. I don't worry about it during a triathlon, since there are so many waves before me to scare off the critters. During OWS races, however, the field is much smaller and spreads out. It's mostly a location based fear:

• If there is no one around me, I'm easy shark pickings.
• If I'm in the intercoastal waterway, near where the Gulf feeds into the waterway, then I get nervous since that's where (very aggressive) bullsharks enter their feeding and mating grounds.

But the swim itself - easy peasy lemon squeezy. Salt-water swims are exhilarating.

ETA: I have never done and would never do a pool tri. Yuck.

I guess I'm in the minority, but I get really scared no matter how physically and mentally prepared I try to be or how short the distance is.  When I was growing up we were never allowed in the lakes without a life jacket, so I guess that is ingrained a bit.  Plus, I was never a good swimmer.  I just never learned despite years of youth swimming lessons (I would cry in the car on the way). 

I'm a much more comfortable pool swimmer now, and I try to keep myself calm in OWS, but the second a little wave or choppy water hits my face or I think about how I am in the middle of a lake, I start to hyperventilate and it's tough for me to calm down.  It's really frustrating/limiting because I know my fears aren't fully rational. 

Several years ago when my so called friends suggested doing a triathlon I told them they were nuts and that I was happy to follow along but wouldn't be able to swim.  I think my first workout in the pool was a grand total of 200 yards...maybe.  head completely out of the water.

have come seriously close to death three times in the water and having never learned to swim I was scared of death.  It took a lot to put my face in the water and swim in the pool let alone get in a lake.

Probably the biggest thing to help me overcome my personal demon was swimming in a lake (in a safe, designated swim area with a friend and lots of floating on my back) with a wetsuit and realizing that it was almost impossible to drown wearing the wetsuit.  Once I realized death was off the table I took the next step and mentally choose to treat the swim like just a warmup and not a race.  

I want to do my first tri in June, but yet have to start swim training.

As a kid/youth I swam a lot in lakes back in Germany, where there are no parasites, gators or snakes.

But I am a bit intimidated of going into the lake here with snakes and possibly gators or other scary stuff..

I have to admit that I feel more at home in the water than I do on land.  I have absolutely no fear of the water, although I do have the utmost respect for it, especially as I very nearly drowned in a swimming pool when I was 3-4 years old.  I still have a vague memory of lying at the bottom of a swimming pool in Nigeria, looking up at people, and seeing my Dad diving in to save me.  Apparently I had very blue lips, but I do remember the scolding the 7 year old boy got for letting the air out of my swimming armbands.  My Dad got me right back in the pool, and started teaching me to swim without armbands - I've never looked back since!

I really enjoy OWS, but I do not like being swum-over, or repeatedly bashed in the face, head, shoulders etc.  I generally find that guys are way more aggresive and worse in this regards than women (perhaps they just hate being "chicked"?).  I completely understand that it's a race, but come on, please have some courtesy!  Sometimes I am hemmed in on both side by guys, and they have absolutely no problem with repeatedly hitting me - sometimes I'm forced to stop (if they dislodge my goggles), but I have been known to make use of my elbows, but only for persistent offenders!  However, women are much more likely to stop or slow, occasionally apologise, then go on in a slightly different direction.  They will even check to see if they are going in the right direction, which guys NEVER do (in a car or an OWS race)

People stopping in the water right in front of you is also an issue, as I've run head first into people at times, with lots of apologies, and a couple of headaches.  As a result, I'm getting much better at sighting buoys AND stationary swimmers in the water now! 

Pool swimming is great for training and technique, but OWS is just fantastic.  I swim in a man-made lake where I can barely see my hands 2" in front of me, so I tend to sense other swimmers around me by their currents (a human catfish of sorts!).

This exactly. Except for the bolded bit. 

I splash around in open water all the time, but not an ocean. The creatures in our lake don't bother me...they're terrified of me and I never bump into a fish.

I'm not afraid of drowning or being nibbled by walleyes, I'm afraid of being last. Being last makes me panicky, too.

I've never swum in open water doing freestyle in a competitive environment. I've only swum 50 feet from the dock to the float or out to the boat. I'm excited to practice REAL open water swimming this summer. I'm anxious to see how much the choppy water affects my ability to breathe well while swimming. 

Basically, yes... and I was on the swim team in high school and had swimming lessons from a very young age because my grandparents had both a swimming pool and a house at the beach - also the Red Cross swim program was part of my middle school's phys ed curriculum.  I've spent a lot of time in pools and bays/the ocean, and have quite a healthy respect for the water. 

I first tried actual swimming (vs. bodyboarding/wave jumping) in the Atlantic Ocean last summer in prep for my first Tri, and panicked almost immediately when I put my goggled face in the water to start swimming, opened my eyes and couldn't see but a couple feet in any direction.  I was not wearing a wetsuit.  I started imagining mysterious large dark masses just beyond my visibility (dolphins are very common where I was swimming, and sometimes whales are seen, but there has never been a shark attack/sighting that I can recall).  I became very aware of the motion of the waves and the fact that I was not able to see/touch the bottom - and felt... helpless?  I'm not sure of the right word really, but I was pretty terrified and started frantically paddling towards my husband who was only a few feet away and able to stand.  I know how to float and tread water, but still have a fear of not being able to get to shore when I want/need to and drowning.  Even with all the swim lessons and coaching I've had, the fear of drowning is still very real, and I think ingrained in us to a certain extent.  The instinct of self-preservation is hard to ignore!  But, pushing myself outside of my comfort zone is one of the things I like about Triathlon.

After I got a wetsuit, I felt considerably more comfortable with swimming in the open water because of the added bouyancy.  It definitely helped alleviate my fear of drowning because I didn't really have to try to keep my head above water in my suit.  I have swum in the ocean a few times (always with the wetsuit) since that first panic and those swims have gone much better.  I have a hard time just relaxing and swimming in open water like I am able to do in the pool.  And the start of the swim in a race has me mosty afraid of getting beat up/knocked out, having my goggles knocked off of my face and lost in the murky water, forgetting to sight and going off course, plus the other stuff already mentioned.