The best advice I got after my first OWS (which was not quite a disaster and complete freak-out, but pretty close) was to look at the sky when you breathe. Sure, it slows you down a little bit since you have to roll a little bit extra with each breath, but for some reason looking at the sky while doing an OWS helps me relax and, oddly, keeps me grounded.

And, yeah, breast stroke. I already do that in the pool about half the time, so doing it during an OWS is nothing different for me, but it's the stroke that makes it easier to negotiate around people.

Sarah