I always fight panic in the water. It used to happen to me on pool swims as well as outside, but I've managed to get to a point where I don't panic indoors anymore.

I HATE HATE HATE the breathless feeling I get at the start of a triathlon, both outdoors and in a pool. In the pool, though, I know that the deck is never more than 12.5 yards away (or in an Olympic Pool 25 yards) in either direction and that I can always make it at least that far. Plus, there are spectators who wouldn't let me drown....

But really, there are two things that helped me the most:
1) Lots and lots of swim training. As I grew stronger, I simply became more confident in my strength and ability. Not any faster, really, but more endurance. The farther I swam, the more I knew I *could* swim that distance.

2) Learning to swim to recovery. What I mean is, if you KNOW you are going to feel breathless at the beginning of a race, do some training in the pool that makes you breathless to start, then recover WHILE swimming. In practice, what this means for me is to swim 50 or 100 yards AS HARD AS I CAN so that I'm panting at 100 yards, and then, WITHOUT STOPPING, I slow down and swim an easy 100 or so. It forces me to calm down, and swim slowly enough that I teach myself to bring my heart rate down and slow my rate of respiration, while continuing to move forward. When you learn how to do this in the pool, when there's no pressure on you of people watching, or the time clock of a race ticking, you will be able to recall how that feels on race day, and keep swimming while you recover.

Of course, none of this helps you now, with race day coming this weekend. So, my best advice to you would be, if at all possible, swim a lap (or two) before your heat starts, if you can. I've done some pool tris in the past, and there's usually 2-5 minutes between the end of one heat and the beginning of the next. Use those 2-5 minutes to swim a lap, or even halfway down and back if that's all you have time for. You'll get past at least some of that initial adrenaline-fueled heartrate spike.

Finally, go into the race giving yourself permission to pause at the wall if you feel breathless. Trust me, it's OK to do that and YOU WILL NOT BE ALONE. Many beginners (and even many not-so-beginners) have the exact same experience as you, and particularly in the slower heats you will see many people take a brief pause at the wall, even if it's just for an extra breath or three.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Susan