talk to me about swimming under stress

Ok, so I got a faceful of what it's like to be spazzed out on adrenaline and try to swim at the same time yesterday. Very hard. To give an idea of how I react, I started sleeping poorly 2 nights before, and started losing my appetite the night before. I don't use a HR monitor, but my pulse was high the whole morning, and from 2 hours before the race and throughout it all my mouth felt parched, even though I'd been drinking steadily. All this for a race which is supposed to be short and fun, where I was a first-timer and had no pressure whatsoever.

Anyway - I ended up panting uncontrollably at the start of the swim and had to keep my head above water for 400 metres. Any time I tried to put my head under I got a really strong gasp reflex. For the final 350 metres I finally managed to swim properly, and started passing people.

How should I go about curbing this? I know everyone has nerves and beginners always fear the swim, but I've never in my life felt so out of it when swimming. I'm not expecting to become a good swimmer overnight, but it is annoying to not even be able to swim the stroke I actually can swim. And practicing under non-race conditions just doesn't give me that adrenaline hike I struggled with. A good warm-up in the water should help, but there was a pre-race meeting right before so I didn't think I had the time.

I'm a crappy swimmer, but I had a PR in the swim leg of my local sprint tri this summer. Last year I had what might have been a mini-panic attack. I couldn't catch my breath, I couldn't get into a rhythm, I was scared the whole time. I think the following helped me.

1. Try to simulate the contact. I played a game with my kid that involved a lot of contact. We would dive for a swim toy and then fight each other to see who would get it first. We tugged on each other's legs, dunked heads, etc. I think it made me more comfortable with contact in the water.

2. Practice open water swimming.

3. Try to recreate the panic feeling and deal with it. I (inadvertently) did this in the pool. I wanted to swim, but didn't have much time, so I decided to try a short but fast swim. I started, but I felt disjointed, disoriented, and out of breath. I started repeating a mantra to myself: strength. patience. courage. It settled me down.

4. At the start of the race, line up at the back. Don't fight the better swimmers.

During my race, I kept repeating the mantra. Except that I was nervous, so I forgot what I was supposed to be saying and settled on: strength. courage. This changed by the end of the race into : one. two. three.

Good luck!

I was in a kayak today for a tri near my house. I had to help a number of people (mostly men for some reason). The panic on a few of their faces had me thinking how grateful I am that I'm so totally comfortable and at ease in the water (both open water and the pool). I've never felt anxious or scared or nervous in a race. After the race I was talking to a lifeguard friend about this, and she said what she used to tell stressed swimmers was this (sorry- a lot of this is similar to what roo suggested):

*put yourself at the back and off to the side at the start- give yourself as much open water as possible- even if it means swimming a little longer distance than the actual course.

*practice deep breathing before the race. Go off by yourself at the venue and take some deep inhalations and exhalations. Practice this daily under stressful situations so your body will learn that the breathing is a direct connection to calming yourself down.

*have a mantra to repeat to yourself to keep you calm as you swim. Whether it's "just keep swimming" or something more meaningful, repeating something in your head will distract you from the sensation of freaking out. Personally, I count strokes until I breathe. 1,2,3,4,5 breathe 1,2,3,4,5, breathe. Keeps me on rhythm and helps me to focus on something.

*practice as MUCH as humanly possible in open water. Once a week, twice a week, as much as you need to in order to feel as relaxed as you can. If you can, swim with others and try to make it a close swim so you get used to other people RIGHT around you. I know it's not nearly the same as race day, but perhaps that might help even just a little.

*always warm up before the race. Even if it means arriving extra early, just getting in and swimming a few strokes will take away the initial shock of the water and get you feeling more comfortable than just a dry start from the beach.

*sight as often as possible to make sure you're staying on course. Nothing worse than looking up and panicking because you just went way off course and have to swim extra to make it back to the buoy.

Hopefully something will help. I am a confident swimmer (although not the fastest) and even I have to say a mantra, or count or do something to keep my brain busy. Our lakes are murky and dark and I suppose that's a good thing- it keeps me from looking down and seeing all the fishes, turtles, snakes and whatnot that is swimming below me. I think if I looked down and saw a 60lb catfish, I'd probably be freaking out every time I set foot in open water.
Panic goes from 0-100 in a nanosecond in the water, so keeping that initial panic at bay is the key to keeping it away for the duration of the swim.

Keep at it, lph. You survived that first tri- it's all gravy from here on out!! :)

Thank you so much, for really constructive tips! I will try them out. I knew swimming was my weakest point, but I had forced myself to do open water swims in advance, by myself, in cold water, and up to twice the length of the race distance, and was feeling pretty confident than I could handle it. I'm not used to close contact, but training in a pool I had experienced light contact quite often. What I hadn't reckoned on was how my normal tendency to get highstrung before any performance (race, presentation at work, even catching a plane the next morning) would affect my breathing, and how essential controlled breathing is to swimming. On a bike you can just gasp away until it goes away. I think the worst thing was hearing everybody else panting around me, it just "told" me that I should keep the same rhythm :rolleyes:

I somehow have to try to replicate that kind of adrenaline spike, and try to work through swimming with it. The best thing to do would be to start in a tri with the only goal of starting in back and doing the swim with relaxed breathing...

It really helps hearing that this is kinda sorta normal!

VERY normal. I see it a lot in races, both as a racer and a kayaker. A friend of mine practiced in the pool, felt very comfortable, but froze after the starter went off in her first race to the point where she was pretty resigned to just get up and back out of the water. A very amazing kayaker talked her off the ledge and she was able to regain composure.

I breaststroked the entire way in my first triathlon and I AM comfortable in the water. Something about the adrenaline and anticipation. It DOES get better. You DO get used to it, and I think exposure helps. I still get an adrenaline rush, but it does not affect my swimming as long as I am comfortable swimming that distance and confident in my training. Sometimes when I'm not, it lets doubt creep in and the adrenaline starts to get to me.

I focus on eliminating unknowns in order to get rid of what's left: training for the distance, racing that distance previously, not doing anything for the first time, analyzing the situation, placing myself appropriate for the race. I also try to focus on my own race and not the people around me - rarely is the race won on the swim, and I can always catch people on the bike and try to create a gap between me and whoever I want to race against, if anyone.

re mantras: I have a running mantra just like roo4s, that goes "strength power joy!". I started with "strength power focus" but realized that focus is the last thing I need, I need to focus less, and enjoy more! So I added "joy" to remind me that I like moving and I like challenging myself, and that it's all supposed to be joyful and fun.

The first time I swam in open water by myself the place was deserted, the water was still black and spooky, and it was cold, harmless with a wetsuit on, but scary anyway. I had recently read about the first woman to run a marathon, and how the men around here protected her from irate officials, and I'd been listening to Muse as I biked to the lake. So I ended up with their song "Invincible" stuck in my head, and the picture of this woman running with a set of "bodyguards" around her - worked very well indeed :D

Now I need a mantra or thought that will tie in with rapid breathing. Working on it ;)

This looks like a very useful link, on what makes tri swim starts different from other swimming:
http://www.active.com/triathlon/Arti...Swim_Start.htm

That's a cool story about Katherine Switzer & the Boston marathon.

How about "breathe power joy"? I've had good outcomes with mantras. Yesterday on a bike ride I came up with a new one-- all lies-- but I have a theory that if I tell myself these they'll become true. It goes, "My work is meaningful. My career fulfills me. I love my job." etc.

Right away I felt better about my job!

Tri Girl has great tips!

I did my first few OWS races mostly sidestroke because I would start to panic and not be able to breathe if I put my face in the water. Fine in practice, a basket case in a race. Last race, second season, I finally swam the whole thing freestyle.

I still have moments where I'll start thinking that I can't finish and then I remind myself to slow down, calm myself, and swim my own race.

At this point in your tri career, instead of "breathe power joy" I would suggest "breathe, calm, joy" or "Keep Calm and Carry On".

If you stick with it, it will get better.

Good luck!

Heh reminds me of the ol' Clif Tri Swim Training video.

-- gnat! (I felt like I was in a zombie movie during my swim start, considering all the anklegrabs...)

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Originally Posted by gnat23

Heh reminds me of the ol' Clif Tri Swim Training video.

-- gnat! (I felt like I was in a zombie movie during my swim start, considering all the anklegrabs...)

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Funny!

Breathe, slow, calm. I'm going swimming in a lake again tomorrow :) Looking forward to it!

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Originally Posted by lph

Breathe, slow, calm. I'm going swimming in a lake again tomorrow :) Looking forward to it!

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go get 'em tiger!!! :p

I think it's hard to replicate the adrenalin rush before a race, but you can practice to control your breathing by swimming very fast laps. When swimming as fast as possible, the biggest problem is often to keep your breathing under control and to resist the urge to just stick your head out of the water.

I'm currently training for fast 50m laps (freestyle and breaststroke) and despite being a very confident swimmer I get a little panicky at the end of the lap if I do it as fast as possible.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gnat23

Heh reminds me of the ol' Clif Tri Swim Training video.

-- gnat! (I felt like I was in a zombie movie during my swim start, considering all the anklegrabs...)

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ok this was HILARIOUS :D Thankfully the ladies sprint is indeed a little more ladylike. Someone did try to actually swim right over me for quite a while from behind, but since I was breaststroking I think I kicked her more than she (or he, a few guys doing the relay) whacked me.