I’ve done 4 long course triathlon last year as I am a beginner.

First One: although having trained constantly in the ocean, cold and warm, did IM WA 70.3, short warmup, got in and swam hard following someone for 300m, started gasping, panicked for seemingly no reason, had to hang on a paddleboard and took an hour to finish a normally 34 minute swim. HRM later showed highly elevated HR vs normal

Why? Well I visited a cardiologist - no issues after complete workup, an experienced doctor who is a triathlete who treats triathletes and a sports psychologist.

The sports doctor explained the commonality of panic when in cold water and constricted (wetsuit). Checked my bloodwork, made some recommendations for supplements that weren’t related to panic, highly recommended warmup during races.

Psychologist worked on panic with me, why it happens, what to do about it (the mental side)

Second race was IM liuzhou 70.3 in a cold river - no warmup (they just told us we couldn’t for no reason) - entered slowly, prepared for panic. Felt it for about 20 seconds, applied techniques recommended by psychologist, it went away.

Third was IM Canada - wetsuit. Warmup allowed (and done), swam portions of the lake course a few times before the race. At race start felt a tiny bit of the “panic feeling”, easily suppressed, went away.

Last week was a longer than Olympic race in Phuket Thailand, warm weather, warmup, had no panic at all.

In each race my HRM said my HR was closer to practice HR than the initial Panic HR. Use makes master. Knowing their is a chance for panic allows you to control it better.

My coach said he panicked as well but not until after like 10 events.

Not sure why I posted this just thought it might be interesting and also if you have had similar issues it’s not unknown or something to be ashamed of. One thing that stuck with me was that cold weather plus wetsuit constriction heightens panic risk per my doctor.

I would agree with that - the swim had its challenges, the sea state was rolling from right to left from bow type waves. I started on the right hand side of the course, ended up on the left hand side and was concerned l was wasting time correcting the right to left sea push. Turned out my corrections were minor and my time was good. Plenty of room on this course though, there were swimmers way out on my right and left all the way down to the finish. The last red buoy must be passed on the right hand side, so a bit of thrashing around there and its busy to the pontoon.

Its not an easy swim but neither is it difficult, its real attraction is that the course is straight and relatively wide, so you can get into a space and hammer away without the usual pile up around the buoys etc.

When I got the race survey from Ironman - the only suggestion I had was to limit the locals and tourists use of small boats and Jet skis at high speed close to the course to reduce all the chop. The beginning of the swim was fine then I saw jet skis going back and forth and the thrashing began.

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Dan Kennison

facebook: @triPremierBike
http://www.PremierBike.com
http://www.PositionOneSports.com

I was there; about 15 mins slower than normal but I'm a MOP swimmer. I wouldn't say it was a blast but I did like the portion of the swim with the current.

i see some race reports, many people stung by jellyfish... was this enough shock? *shrug*

Just about anything can create enough shock to have you panic and then go downhill really really quickly; most especially in the water.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I got zero in the race. I wouldn’t have thought it was so prevalent. And the couple I did get on a practice swim, more like little pinpricks. Wouldn’t think enough to affect someone’s composure or the swim in general

I was stung a few times in a practice swim there, and like you, they felt like little pin pricks, a minor annoyance. But if you were allergic or hypersensitive then it could be a different story.

Sorry, but over two years have passed and you lost that bet (read backwards in this thread for a refresher). WT does not require any such screening for age group athletes in 2022 although such screenings are recommended. See section 2.4 in the 2022 rules attached. To be generous, I would acknowledge that COVID has probably hit WT hard in the pocket book with reduced AG participation in the few "worlds" they have had. But I still contend that WT won't dare mandate a screening for Age Groupers which they rely on for funding.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2022/01/03/covid-19-survivor-andrea-arriaga-borges-intv-nd-vpx.cnn

You’ve been waiting for 2 years to tell the most argumentative poster on ST that, looking back, he was wrong.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iEKLFS-aKcw

Actually, I forgot about it over 2 years ago, but his prediction was so obviously in left field that I set a future note in my calendar to follow-up. And yep, he was wrong.

It looks like Brooks must be posting elsewhere these days.