OWS training for Annapolis

About a half dozen of us from the Annapolis Tri Club went out at Sandy point tonight. It was great. Yes, there were jellyfish. Most of us got stung, but not until the very end. Great place to swim. Not crowded, get the open water feeling without any really bad tides pulling you out. There was a definite current you could feel while swimming, but that's not a bad thing. It's about as convenient as any place you can find. $4 per person to get in weekdays.

Jellyfish?!?? You got stung? Just when I finally got over the pirahna story .... http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-07-04-piranha_N.htm. Were you wearing wet suits? I'm completely new to this so please forgive all my questions. Do any of you plan on going out this weekend? I'm nervous about doing open water swimming by myself, especially for the first time. Does anyone know of a group I can meet up with?

I was wearing a sleeveless wetsuit. I got a few sting on the arms and a really good one in the catch phase of my stroke when I sqezzed it between my lat and arm. It's not really that bad, just hurts for a few seconds, like a small bee sting. Nothing to worry about, and certainly not a reason to not swim there. It's a great place to swim.
The Annapolis Tri Club lists open water swims on the website. They are not really club sponsored, just a group of people who want to swim.
This one was my first at Sandy Point, but to tell you the truth, I really wouldn't hesitate to swim myself. We were out pretty far, and only 1 time was I in an area I couldn't stand. With a wetsuit, no worry about that. Unlike the ocean, where there are rip currents and the tides pulling you out into a dangerous situation, none of that existed at Sandy Point. I even think during the day, there are lifeguards all summer long. If you are nervous about swimming alone, go this weekend when the lifeguards are out. It would be pretty easy to go out far enough not to disturb normal swimmers playing in the water even during the height of the day.
If you don't have a wetsuit, the Annapolis Tri Club somehow swung a discount on Xterra wetsuits 50% off. That's a pretty steep discount for the price of membership.
There is also a product called Safe Sea, a suntan lotion with jelly fish repellant/protectant. I think where I had it on enough, I really didn't feel the stings until later, just a little mild irritation. The spot on my back I did not get with the lotion, well, it got it.
And another shameless plug for the Club, there were 3 practice 3 sport events before this with 35-50 people doing the events. Really well organized. I joined without really expecting to do a lot with the club, and I have had a great expereince. Even the elite in the group are super helpful and spend a lot of time with new athletes talking and teaching. Nothing like trying to do this with a group to make you keep up.
The swim we did was just based on someone posting on the ATC website they wanted to swim that night, and 7 of us turned up. Pretty cool. I'm racing this weekend, or else I would go out.

Hope you had a good race last weekend. Thanks for the swim information! I'm going to try Sandy Point out this weekend (weather permitting). I'm not going to have a wetsuit though so hopefully the jellyfish give me a break.

Swam there last night. Tough current and weather.
Very few jellyfish. I saw none, other members of our group only saw a few, only 1 got stung, and it was very mild.

i plan on going out sunday from about 4ish til 5ish...good luck with your training and thanks again for all the information

The nettles are around, you can't do anything about that .... but if you stay in the pack you shouldn't be bothered by them (much).  And their sting is a relatively mild thing in the big picture of what some jellyfish can do, more annoying than anything else.  They make some lotions you can put on that help to avoid any real stinging I've heard.  Just slap it on before you get in the water and go!

We were out tonight with a group of about 15. About 5-7 of us took one or two, nothing too bad. The Sae Safe product really helps, but you have to put it on thick. I took a few off my arms, but with that stuff on it, just very mild irritation.
I did come literally face to.. well, jellyfish... and it startled me a little. Invest in the Sea Safe product if you are doing the Annapolis Tri, best $10 you can spend.

ok i'm definitely getting some of that sea safe stuff..i went out this weekend but luckily didn't see any jellyfish (=nettles?!?), but then again i could barely see anything in that water.

headed back out this weekend, probably around 11am both days...anyone else plan on being out this weekend?