I can jump in with my experience.
A few years ago I had a coach (Hi Roger!) who was awesome, and I was swimming 3x per week. Pool in the off season and OWS in the summer. HIM "A" race was about 32:00, although I felt like I still had gas in the tank.
Next year I upped to IM and self-coached. The biggest PIA of training is swimming. I have to drive about 20 minutes to the pool, change, swim, drive back....forget it, I'll just run again and I'll OWS in the summer. Hurt my back so that didn't happen either. In the 12 months beforehand I swam probably a dozen times in total and my training had gone down 30% in bike/run as well.
Fast forward to IMMuskoka and my swim was 1:15. So I probably gave up about 10 minutes or so, but some of that was a loss of general fitness as well. I agree with others, the bike and run distances are challenging but the swim isn't that bad and you can muddle through it if you're comfortable in the water. That doesn't mean a great swimmer, that just means as long as you are someone who won't panic and can keep moving. With your experience just take it easy on the swim and then hammer the bike and run. Set some process goals. You'll be fine. Good luck!
A few years ago I had a coach (Hi Roger!) who was awesome, and I was swimming 3x per week. Pool in the off season and OWS in the summer. HIM "A" race was about 32:00, although I felt like I still had gas in the tank.
Next year I upped to IM and self-coached. The biggest PIA of training is swimming. I have to drive about 20 minutes to the pool, change, swim, drive back....forget it, I'll just run again and I'll OWS in the summer. Hurt my back so that didn't happen either. In the 12 months beforehand I swam probably a dozen times in total and my training had gone down 30% in bike/run as well.
Fast forward to IMMuskoka and my swim was 1:15. So I probably gave up about 10 minutes or so, but some of that was a loss of general fitness as well. I agree with others, the bike and run distances are challenging but the swim isn't that bad and you can muddle through it if you're comfortable in the water. That doesn't mean a great swimmer, that just means as long as you are someone who won't panic and can keep moving. With your experience just take it easy on the swim and then hammer the bike and run. Set some process goals. You'll be fine. Good luck!