Open Water Panic

[Thorn]

Fear not....you are truly not alone. As others have said, practice, practice, practice. Get out in the OW as often as you can. My first tri was a disaster.

As a kid I was hydrophobic to the point that I didn't learn to swim until late teens and "swim" was a poor term for the flailing I did. While I may have had miserable strokes if my head was in the water, I had (and still have) an awesome side stroke . On my first tri the cold water (pools were always warm) and the seaweed (arggghh...it is out to get me) and the other bodies (I'll drown! I just know it!) put me into a horrendous panic. I switched to side stroke and didn't calm down until near the end.

After that I vowed to get into OW as often as I could. Inland lakes early in the year and Lake Michigan when it warmed enough to tolerate. The freaking out does go away. And, when you finish that first OWS with a mass start...the feeling of accomplishment is greater than finishing the tri itself!

[jsgeneroso]

Hi.

Congratulations on your first olympic distance! I completed my first oly. distance this year as well and i get giddy thinking about it. My true freak out in OWS happend during that race since there was A LOT of seaweed in the shallower part of the lake (beginning and end of the swim). It felt like little hands grasping at me from under water and I felt my breath catch. In that situation i tried to use the seaweed as sort of an indicator to how fast i was going since i could see myelf passing them. Also, i brought my stroke closer so i was systematically pushing the weeds away from my face.

I've had other races where the water has freaked me out (and I am a swimmer so you are def. NOT ALONE). In the cases where my breathing becomes shallow, i actually flip over and do back stroke for a little while until my breathing goes back to normal.

Also, i noticed one thing when swimming around other folks...well, not even swimming around other folks, when everyone is swimming on top of you it seems, it helps to ease up on the legs until you get away from the masses. It helped me just know that I wouldn't inadvertenly kick anyone in the face and also it allowed me to get through the flailing bodies pretty gently.

Lastly my comments about swimming in the open water in general...I'm a little bit OCD like Monk on USA. Sometimes my mind wants to get all grossed out that i'm swimming in a lake/water i can't see thru. It helps to actually peg people out to pass so your focus is more on the race than on the open water, which is the only thing that helps me out..otherwise I don't think i could do triathlons!

Hope you have a great day!!!! CONGRATULATIONS again on your first olympic distance.

[kiwi girl]

What the others have said - practice and particularly practice with the wetsuit on. I've had to buy a new wetsuit because the couple of extra pounds I've put on made my old one just a bit tight and claustrophobic feeling around the neck (although strictly speaking it is proably a good fit - they are supposed to be tight).

Also can you analyse a bit more what was freaking you out? After a couple of really awful OWS (bad enough to put me off doing tris with OWS for a couple of years) I have worked out that my problem is not the current or the people around me but the murky water - not being able to see the bottom (my OWS are in the sea). Now I just have to figure out how to get over that.

[EBD]

Hi everyone -
Thanks for all the posts, they really do make me feel better!

That's an interesting question, Kiwi Girl, and I'll have to think about it. The unfamiliar wetsuit was probably part of it - I think I may buy a used one at the end of the season so I can have plenty of practice before next time. It was not a very crowded start, as races go - maybe only 30 or 40 novices. But it was a misty morning and so the far bouy (turn-around) was barely visible, perhaps not at all from the start - so it felt like I was never going to get there! That was the big difference from all the sprints I've done; with the sprint distance, you can see the whole course and it looks manageable.

I knew I should have practiced in the open water this summer, and was too lazy. My coach also admonished me to practice in the pool by closing my eyes when they were underwater, to simulate the opaque lake water- and I did this *a little* but, you know . . . it's just no fun! But now I know that will be my most important training for next year!

But, if you notice, I'm already talking about next time - so I guess I am not permanently traumatized!

Thanks again y'all.

[Bluetree]

Congrats!
I have the same trepidations about the OWS. As a child I almost drowned in some riptides and had to pulled out by a lfieguard. I consider myself a decent lap swimmer but stepping back into the ocean was another animal altogether.
So... to help me ease into next year's triathlons, my BF suggested I go watch him start off in this year's L.A. Tri (I usually just wait at the finish). No problem, he said. I can watch everyone take off and see how easy it's done.
Well, it was cold and miserable and the waves looked like this:

[Bluetree]

At the start of each age group, the crowd en masse ran towards the surf like a tide of lemmings, half of them getting flattened or sent tumbling back onto shore. (My friend Henrik actaully took those shots). After watching this, I think I will try out some lake-swims first. Eeesh!

[Running Mommy]

Yipes bluetree that looks like the solana beach or imperial beach I did a few months ago!!!

Now to answer the question... YES!! I freak out! And I used to SURF!! Do a search on the triathlon forum from my IMAZ experience and you will see some true OW freaking out! I was beside myself. It was scary. The weird thing for me is that it just happens every once in awhile???
But the other weird thing as that I always get through it. Just know that it will happen, and you WILL get through it!

And congrats on your race!
Be iron!!
Denise

[tygab]

Congrats!
I have the same trepidations about the OWS. As a child I almost drowned in some riptides and had to pulled out by a lfieguard. I consider myself a decent lap swimmer but stepping back into the ocean was another animal altogether.
So... to help me ease into next year's triathlons, my BF suggested I go watch him start off in this year's L.A. Tri (I usually just wait at the finish). No problem, he said. I can watch everyone take off and see how easy it's done.
Well, it was cold and miserable and the waves looked like this:

Ummmmm, yeah.... I don't think any amt of money would cause me to go in that mess. I have no tri experience so I am just interloping here, but I do not enjoy ocean swimming at all. Maybe it's because I grew up in the midwest and my only childhood memories of the ocean are me getting knocked over by it. Anyway I could hardly imagine an ocean swim as part of a tri. A bay, maybe, but ocean like that??

[cheleB]

Congrats on your first Oly. That's my plan for next year and my only hold back is the swim! I did my first sprint 2 yrs ago and had a terrible swim experience. It took the entire winter of coached masters' swimming to get over. Coach told me his was glad his original college major was psych! The in-water panic attacks came back in the spring when I got back into OW. I trained with a great and very supportive group and learned to love OW. The best tip I got was to sing while I swim! It's a great distraction. I even did an OWS in a pond last Sunday, north of Boston and it was in the 50s. That is how much I love OW right now!

Getting back in the pool now, the attacks are back! Tuesday night, I freaked but calmed myself and finished the work-out. But last night, the panic hit in my Masters session. I totally freaked and got out of the pool! I had to wait an hour for hubby to finish! Coach offered to do a one-on-one today! I am so anxious!

Sorry, I have no advice but I feel your pain!