Help me help a newbie....

[rocknrollgirl]

Well,
I talked one of my mt bike buddies in to a road tri. I actually planted the seed last year, and she has been working on her swimming all this time. And apparently from what she has told me, it needed work. We race on the same team, so I know her bike and run will be fine. I am taking her for her first OWS next Tuesday. The race will be a 1/4 mile swim.

I am taking her to a place where she will be able to stand up if she gets scared. There will be buoys for sighting. The water is warm. I am letting her use my wetsuit for the race if they are allowed, so we will practice with and without.

Am I missing anything? What else do I need to do with her? I never think about the swim, so I am afraid that I will overlook some details.

So ladies...help me help a newbie...what am I missing.....

[Wahine]

Encourage to get used to just floating in the wetsuit so she can feel how much it helps with bouyancy. Also get her to put her face in the water and try a freestyle stroke right away. If you can get her to do that you're golden. It just helps to get that over with right away.

[IGGY]

okay, I've not done my first tri yet. However, as a brand new swimmer (2 weeks, laps every day) I've done a LOT of talking about it.
Here's the best advice I've heard from my husband and from my "inspirer" Julia.

1. Let the pack go on ahead and kick each other, then go.

2. If you start panicking in the water, you'll lose your breath. Try an easier stroke (breast stroke) or roll on your back for a minute to catch your breath.

3. Remember, this is supposed to be fun!

4. My own mantra is...imagine the worst thing and then imagine it as a headline in the newspaper. Like this "woman gets disoriented during first triathlon swim, comes in 22 out of 30". Who would care? No one. It helps me take the pressure off.

5. I told my swim instructor why I was taking lessons (specifically so I could do a tri, and I told him that although I wasn't competitive I didn't want to come in dead last and disappoint my family). He said, you could come across walking, and still you'd be way ahead of anyone who never tried. He's 17. In shape, popular. I'm 38, not in shape, a geek. and he STILL said it, and truly meant it!

[salsabike]

Here's one more thing. I'm not new to swimming in open water in that I grew up swimming in lakes, but am new to swimming with intent in open water, if you see what I mean. I found it very helpful to take Wahine's advice to sight every sixth stroke instead of what I'd heard before, which was just to sight occasionally. Sighting that often and regularly seems to help keep me feeling oriented, whereas if I only sight occasionally, I often go through a "Oh, where the heck am I now?" brief confusion.