I learned today that there will be 3 open water swim clinics in the next couple of weeks. (And they're free!) I reserved a spot in two of them. It would be really easy, given the location, to take my bike and take a ride immediately after the clinic. I'm wondering if that would be a good enough race simulation?

The first one is the day before the pool tri closes, so I wouldn't have to decide until then if I want to do the race. OTOH, it might be good to know at the beginning of the week if I'll be racing on Saturday or not.

FWIW, I had a swim lesson today and asked my instructor what he thought. He recommended doing the race so that I would get used to swimming during a race. I suspect he has a point. Bike racing or running gives a sense of performance during competition, but is a bit different than how it would feel to swim in competition.

Do you all think the OWS clinics would be a good race-simulation? I've never been to anything like that.

Thanks!

Alex