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The story about that guy's first tri got me to thinking about a situation. I'm a teacher and a student of mine is doing his first olympic distance race this weekend. He got excited about triathloning after hearing me talk about it. I biked the course with him last weekend and I asked him how his swimming was coming along. He told me, "I'll be fine, I swam 20 laps last week. (in a 25 yd pool)" I'm very concerned about him after reading about that guy drowning at his first tri. I want to tell him swimming in a pool is nothing like swimming with a few hundred other people in a lake and that he should be concerned about his lack of preparation. I don't want to scare him away from triathlon but I also don't want to see his first tri be a disaster. I'm not implying I think he'll drown but I don't think his preparation is nearly enough. (he has no serious swimming background)
Any advice on what to tell this kid?
tell him to stay calm, relax and swim his own swim. Make sure he is in the water 10-15 minutes prior to the start and swim 50-100 yards minimum to get used to the smell, taste, feel of the open swim. I am sure he will be fine...we were all first timers once.
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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?
I'd tell him to start at the rear and outside of his swim wave and stay somewhat to the side of the optimal line so if he get's passed by the next wave he doesn't get pummeled by the faster swimmers. Also tell him to put his goggles on under his cap, so if they get kicked off he doesn't lose them. Lastly, tell him that it's not illegal to get assistance from the kayakers if he needs a breather- just take it easy and get through the first swim. I've learned all of these lessons the hard way :-)
I lived in Guelph for awhile years ago but haven't done a tri there. I assume the tri venue swim was held at "fake lake", also known as Guelph Lake. It's basically a man made reservoir. The visibility is poor and water temps in summer were in the low 70's as I remember it. Also a lot of weeds in some parts. For someone not used to swimming in open water, these dark low visibility lakes can "freak out" newbies quite easily.
I think you should be upfront with this kid and tell him exactly how different pool swimming is from open water lake swimming. That's still not the same as experiencing it, but it still might help put him in the right set of mind in knowing what to expect.
Does the kid have a wetsuit. Perhaps you can beg/borrow/steal one for him. If nothing else, a wetsuit can be regarded somewhat as a safety flotation device. Also get him a pair of those wider vision swim goggles.
He most likely will do just fine, but no doubt it will be a tense weekend for you. Good luck to both of you.