hi nanci,

i think it's great that you are willing to try/tri it regardless of how you swim!

as long as you are not afraid of being last out of the water, just do your own thing. i am sure no one is even going to notice because everyone else is busy swimming. i wouldn't recommend backstroke because you can't see where you are going. but, sidestroke is totally acceptable from what i hear (i am going to do my first tri in a few weeks).

i'm not a great freestyler myself. so the one tip that someone told me is to just stay in the back, out of the way, so you don't get run over. i also tend to switch between freestyle and breaststroke a lot.

best of luck and let us know how you do!

frances