First Tri AND First OWS

You know how they tell you NEVER to do something different on race day.  I tried to tell them that I'd never done an OWS before, but they wouldn't let me do the swim leg in a pool.

Regardless, I completed my first triathlon this morning.  It was a sprint distance and it was a GREAT feeling to finish.

This OWS thing...with people all around you.  How are you supposed to SWIM?  I tried to go out hard.  Just kept running into bodies and fighting to stay afloat - not much resembling an actual freestyle stroke.  I was fatigued VERY early on.  Technical problems with my goggles made sighting difficult, but that wasn't the main problem.  I just couldn't get free.

Is there strategy to overcome this?  Of course, I need to incorporate OWS into my training.  But, unless I can get a hundred or so of my training buddies to go with me, the best that will do is improve my sighting technique and give me more of the real continuous swim experience.  What to do about about somebody doing a breast stroke with a WIDE frog kick swimming in front of you...that's what I need to know.