Seeking Open Water Swim Advice...A Scary Experience!

I had the most traumatic open water swim experience during this weekend's Tupper Lake Tinman. Ok...first I'd like to say, I had not even attempted an OWS before this race and boy did I pay for it! I was averaging between 2:05 and 2:10/100 yds in the pool. I had swam 2500 yards on countless occassions and felt good during those workouts, although these workouts were in the pool. So I felt confident when I step into the lake before the horn went off that I could swim the 1.2 mile course with no problem. However, within 10 minutes, all hell broke loose!

The day before the race, the seal on my swim googles appeared to wear...they weren't holding the suction very well. So I bought new goggles. I was advised to buy the larger goggles because the smaller goggles tended to get knocked off easier when you get bumped around during the swim. So I bought the larger goggles. Well...for some reason my larger googles were not holding the suction either and water kept coming in. This started to happen 500 yards into the swim and continued throughout. I could not see where I was going so I would find myself off course each time I started to swim after adjusting my goggles. I was treading water frequently and started to fatigue, but I refused to quit.

I was exhausted and still had 1600 or so yards to swim. I kept trying to find the feet of other competitors to follow, but because I was getting tired from treading water and swimming further than necessary (because I kept swimming off course), I couldn't keep up. The water was very murky so I couldn't see a mere 2 feet in front of me, especially when my goggles were filling up with water. I was getting more tired as the swim went on.

When I finally made the turn to complete the final leg of the swim course the sun hit me directly in the face. I was now being pulled under, punched, and kicked and still swimming off course. I was swallowing a lot of water and now after I would paddle a few strokes and come up to sight where I was, I was so disoriented I didn't know which was I was swimming. What an enormously scary feeling. I kept swimming, only after I made sense of where I was by the direction the other swimmers were going. I would swim a couple more strokes and sight. I repeated this until I finally made it to shore. I was completely exhausted. My family and friends were calling my name and cheering me on and then it went completely silent. Even the other fans cheering on their loved ones stopped cheering. I could hear them, I just could respond. I stood there on the beach and didn't move. All eyes were on me and from the report of my family and friends concern came over everyone's face. They didn't know if I was ok. I didn't know if I was ok. If I had moved I would have falling on my face. I finally took steps toward my transition area. Once getting there I stood still until my head stopped spinning and I gained my bearings. This wasn't a good start to my first tri...ever.

I managed to go on and finish in a humbling 6:42. My goal was to finish in 6:30 or better. My devestating swim certainly made this difficult. I am very proud that I finished. However, I do not want to experience this type of swim performance ever again! I am racing in the Lake George Triathlon on September 3rd. It's an Olympic distant race and I have downloaded the 8-week Olympic plan to begin as soon as I can. I believe I'm to rest for atleast one week after Tupper Lake and then I can begin training again. I will be doing Tupper Lake next year, but I assure you that I will be more prepared for that race than I was this weekend.

I need as much guidance as I can get. The plan that I have imported (mentioned above) does not have OWS as part of the program. What advice could you provide to help me with my OWS technique? Can I implement some OWS in this program? I have plenty of local lakes here in the Adirondacks to practice.

I sincerely and thoroughly enjoy BT. I have learned so much about training and race prep over the short time I have been a member here. I am looking to pursue more races in the future and look forward to learn as much as possible about becoming a more fit and efficient triathlete. Thanks!