Firstly, you do not want to swallow water while swimming through the waves. You may want to either breathe away from the waves or place your mouth further back than you normally would.
Secondly, if you are swimming with the waves, you can kick more as you feel the waves rush over you. This will give you a little bit more momentum.
Thirdly, if you are swimming against the waves, only look forward when you are on top of the waves. If you try to navigate and sight while you are lower than the waves, you will not be able to see anything.

Sighting during a race can be easier if you utilize your fellow competitors. Unless you are the lead swimmer, there are generally enough competitors around you that are generally heading in the right directions. The easiest thing to do is follow them. That is, instead of frequently looking up and forward, breathe to the side and guide off of your fellow competitors. Then, every now and then (e.g., 50-100 strokes or whenever you feel curious or nervous), then breathe forward and up to catch a glimpse of the field ahead of you or the course markings.

Some people breathe to the side and then move their head and eyes forward (like "head-up" freestyle by a water polo player) to sight. Other people first bring their head up, sight and then move their head to the side to breathe. Try both ways and see what works best for you.

Often you will not be able to see everything you want on only one sighting. In that case, take another 2-3 strokes and try again. Often, your viewpoint will be slightly different. If you are still curious or nervous where you are heading, then do it again after a few more strokes. Generally, after 2-3 sightings, you will have a better/good idea of where you are heading. After getting your bearings this way, then you can put your head down to swim normally and not worry about your navigation for a few minutes or several hundred strokes. However, during these periods when you are not sighting yourself, make sure to continue sighting off of your competitors.

Open water swimmers and birds in flock have a lot in common. That is, birds use each other during flight. Open water swimmers can and should do the same. Check out this short article on that point: http://www.10kswimmer.com/2008/10/co...geese-and.html.

Good luck.

For more information, check out www.10Kswim.com and www.10Kswimmer.com.