Open Water Panic

[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

[Tri Girl]

Holy carp, Bluetree!!!!! That might send me with my wetsuit tucked under my hind legs running back to my car. I've never ocean OWS, and the thought of the salt alone icks me out (because I always swallow water), not to mention tackling waves like that! Yikes!
Good thing the nearest ocean is 9 hours away. I'll stick to icky green lake swims, thank you very much!

Oh, and great job on the oly!

[DirtDiva]

It might not be a bad idea to have a little bit more coaching too. Obviously it will improve your swimming and your confidence in your abilities, but it also gives you more knowledge of technique stuff you can focus on instead of the thoughts you don't want to be thinking. Maybe it will be less effective in a panic/fear situation, but I find that focus very handy for getting the "this is hard/I'm tired/why am I doing this?" thoughts out of the way.

[Bluetree]

Holy carp, Bluetree!!!!! That might send me with my wetsuit tucked under my hind legs running back to my car. I've never ocean OWS, and the thought of the salt alone icks me out (because I always swallow water), not to mention tackling waves like that! Yikes!
Good thing the nearest ocean is 9 hours away. I'll stick to icky green lake swims, thank you very much

I asked four buddies how they dealt with those waves.
Two of them waited a few minutes and were able to get past the break between sets (as surfers, they were familiar with swell patterns.)
The other two were after Top 5 placings and dived right in. One of them, a USAT coach, explained that when the waves are that choppy, it pretty much churns all the way to the bottom, making simple dive-thrus harder. He dived straight through to the bottom, to the point where his chest touched the ground and he actually grabbed onto the sandy bottom and pulled his way the through.
All of them, no matter how seasoned, said that the waves were so choppy past the breakwater that they couldn't help but swallow seawater. Yuk.

Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack this thread... but getting back to the original post, EBD brings up a good point. I think I will have to start training in a wetsuit to get comfortable. I didn't even think of it as an issue until I started reading this.

[Bella]

It is race jitters. I do fine in OWS not in competition but the minute I hear the gun, my heart rate is through the roof and I cannot swim to save my life. In the Half Ironman I did in August, I turned over and backstroked the entire 1.2 - allowing myself to breathe the whole way.

Believe it or not, I had a PB in swimming that day. I think it is more about race confidence than your swim skills. Stage fright almost. The cure is repetition. I read a great quote somewhere that said, "You trained a long, hard time not to end up a wall flower in your triathlon - so put the doubts aside and do it."

[Lise]

Bella, how do you sight when backstroking? I cannot backstroke in a straight line to save my life.

[Bella]

I first try to make sure my stroke is equally powerful on both sides - so that one isn't dominate and cause me to drift to the left or right. In the Steelhead, it was a point to point and the lighthouse tower was at my feet. Every several strokes, I lifted my head up slightly to see I was in line with the lighthouse and that there were other swimmers behind me or around me. Even freestyle swimming requires sighting and popping one's head up every now and then - so this is the same. It is pretty unconventional for a race, but it saved my skins that day.