Having also had a panic attack during the swim when my wetsuit was too tight, the first thing I would do if I were you would be to get a wetsuit that fits. The second thing I would do is swim in it a lot.

How can I train to avoid swim panic?

My first tri i was a breast stroke swimmer that got overswum (or is it overswam) by the entire field. I thought i was drowning. I didn't panic, but it wasn't pleasant either.


I'm not an expert, but i'd say:

1) Get suitable gear and train in it. Never use anything in a race that you haven't trained with several times before.

2) Find a tri club that does open water swims. When temperatures allow, i do 2 pool sessions and one OW session a week with my tri club. In OW we train beach starts, water starts, rounding buoys, navigation, et cetera. This might help you get the confidence you need.

I did an oly yday … wearing a new wetsuit that seemed too big … was first time I haven’t had any anxiety in a race in years.

How can I train to avoid swim panic?

I did an oly yday … wearing a new wetsuit that seemed too big … was first time I haven’t had any anxiety in a race in years.

Rose City?

I did that Oly today and first time with a TT start. Gotta say, I much prefer it. You start spread out like you usually are about 200m into the swim. Downside is passing and being passed on the bike with no real idea where you stand in your AG.

It was Lake Sunapee Tri in NH. It also had a time trial start, which did help.

And I never know who is in my age group later in race anyway.

Another thing that I found helped me is to just swim off to the side if there is a pack. Yes, maybe I'll swim 50-100 yards more than some others, but being able to swim without being punched or kicked, sight properly, and get into a a rythm, more than makes up for that extra bit of distance.

^^^^^This.
Also swim wide around the buoys (5m radius). Everyone crowds the buoys, and lots of slow breast to sight the next buoy.

I'm always amazed how many REALLY slow swimmers there are. I once did a race only being able to use one arm (hit by an SUV two weeks prior), so I went at the back of the last wave so as not to get in anyone's way. Big mistake, I was constantly passing folks and working through crowds. Should have just started in my wave and off to the side.

BTW, congratz on your first tri in 5yrs. Yes, it was a little rough, but you did it and things will only get easier.

Rose City?

I did that Oly today and first time with a TT start. Gotta say, I much prefer it. You start spread out like you usually are about 200m into the swim. Downside is passing and being passed on the bike with no real idea where you stand in your AG.

I just did my first triathlon in 5 years (sprint) and it was a disaster.

The swim was a beach start into a lake, I thought I'd be slower than most so put myself at the back so as not to get swum over. Unfortunately i found myself surrounded by breaststrokers that I couldn't pass, then everything came to a standstill around the first buoy and everyone was treading water in a traffic jam (never seen anything like it). So I was getting stressed, add to that my wetsuit is now too tight as I'm not as skinny as 5 years ago, but I thought I could make it work - result of these two situations combined, I couldn't get into my stroke, I couldn't breathe and I think I had a mild panic attack.

I ended up hanging onto the rescue boat honestly thinking I couldn't continue. Absolutely mortified. Only shame made me get a grip and carry on. I actually finished the swim with my wetsuit unzipped.

Then to make matters worse, they were using really massively thick timing chips (also never seen anything like it) and I had to take it off to get my wetsuit leg off. Half way through bike lap 1 - you guessed it, I realised it was still in transition. F@£k Sake!! I actually sobbed.

So, my final finish time amazingly was actually around what I expected, as I was so pissed off on the bike that I had the hammer down. But now my confidence is absolute in tatters. I wanted to try a 70.3 next year, now I don't even know if I could face another sprint.

How can I train to avoid swim panic?

How can I train to avoid swim panic?

I’m definitely ditching the “your wetsuit should be super tight” theory!