Open water swiming issues

I think you're comparing apples to figs here.  Pool times are completely different that open water times.  You have the push off the wall in the pool, plus smoother water, etc. 

And then comparing different courses with different conditions in the open water is another animal that is hard to quantify in itself. 

As long as you consistently see a downward drop in swim times overall, you're doing something right. 

I base mine on feel...how did I feel during the swim and after, moreso than time.

Thanks for the replies:

I tried the higher stroke rate for a couple of weeks and struggled to maintain any sort of rhythm and seem to end up with a dog paddle stroke. Everything that I've read says that good swimmers up their stroke rate in the open water , so I know that it is something that I need to work on.

In terms of feel in the water, when it's rough it's like my legs are going in a different direction to my upper body and I really stuggle to swim in a straight line so I spend a lot of time trying to balance myself in the water.  I get pushed around a lot by the water.

I do most of my swimming in the ocean and I get that feeling of my body getting going in all different directions too. Sometimes the swells are so big I get the front end and the back end of my body lifted higher than the rest. It's pretty neat, actually. I've stopped really worrying about the time in the open water. It's so different from swim to swim depending on the conditions.