DB, the practice sessions sound like a brilliant idea. I do much better at a race when I can imagine each step ahead of time.

So now you've swum in the lake, and you can start imagining yourself doing it again, handling each challenge calmly, swimming strongly, etc.

I learned how to swim in Lake Michigan, and am more comfortable swimming in open water. When I was a teen, a friend died when he hit his head in a pool, and I wouldn't swim in pools for years. It took me a good deal of swallowing hard to get back in the pool. The only reason I did was to train for tris. Many of us have our "thing" about swimming/being in certain kinds of water.

One thing to remember is that if weeds are touching you, it means the bottom's not far down, therefore you could put your feet down at any time. For some people that's very comforting. Like Nanci, I think of weeds as friendly, keeping the lake healthy, stuff like that. I'm a bit freaked about the tri I'm doing next week. I've never swum in that lake (a spring fed lake in Wisconsin); my fear is that it's really deep. (and...what? I'm going to sink like a stone? Fears are not rational!) One thing to know is that you will have lake debris on your skin when you peel off your clothes after the race. You're not going mouldy. It will wash off!

Have a great time. L.