I can swim fine in a pool, I knock out 400m in about 9 minutes. I can do 1600m without much trouble. I have been swimming for about a year and a half. So I am now a “triathlete” and so I signed up for a sprint triathlon that had a 400meter lake swim in a wetsuit. Never have been in open water and there is no big difference other than the slightly cooler water and you cant see the bottom.
I got about 30 yards out and I could not breath, I lost my stroke and had to roll over on my back and kick. I thought OK, first time jitters and tried to calm down but at the same time wanted to swim fast so I kicked on my back like a madman. I looked and I was ahead of two others but was way back in my wave. So I turned over and tried my stroke but since I was breathing so hard I could not breath, I needed more air than I could get during my stroke. So of the 400m swim, I could only do about 50 meters in freestyle.
When I got out of the water I felt like I sprinted a 5k. I was exhausted, needless to say when I got out of my seven minute T1, I felt to tired to do any damage on the bike, and only pulled out a 27min 5k. I have a international distance race in Miami on the 15th.
I can swim fine in a pool, I knock out 400m in about 9 minutes. I can do 1600m without much trouble. I have been swimming for about a year and a half. So I am now a “triathlete” and so I signed up for a sprint triathlon that had a 400meter lake swim in a wetsuit. Never have been in open water and there is no big difference other than the slightly cooler water and you cant see the bottom.
I got about 30 yards out and I could not breath, I lost my stroke and had to roll over on my back and kick. I thought OK, first time jitters and tried to calm down but at the same time wanted to swim fast so I kicked on my back like a madman. I looked and I was ahead of two others but was way back in my wave. So I turned over and tried my stroke but since I was breathing so hard I could not breath, I needed more air than I could get during my stroke. So of the 400m swim, I could only do about 50 meters in freestyle.
When I got out of the water I felt like I sprinted a 5k. I was exhausted, needless to say when I got out of my seven minute T1, I felt to tired to do any damage on the bike, and only pulled out a 27min 5k. I have a international distance race in Miami on the 15th.
Should I just forget it?
Nope. Perfectly normal. You got way excited, amped on adrenaline, and blew up. It happens.
And, there is a LOT more difference than “cooler water and can’t see bottom”. Your mind knows there is no safety net, even if you don’t consciously think about it. When I did my first try I had been a 15 year competitive swimmer, WSI, lifeguard, etc etc. I still had a bad few moments in the middle of a lake swim when I realized the closest land was 500m away. Straight down.
Just get out and swim in OW more, reactions like that will go away.
Edited to add: Had you ever swum in a wetsuit before either? I haven’t swum in one, but heard a lot of anecdotal experience that the tightness in the chest and constriction can cause breathlessness and panic as well.
NO! This happens quite frequently to first time triathletes. In fact, I think this has been the topic of a few threads in the past. I’m no expert so I hope some poeple who are will chime in here. Was this your first time using a wetsuit? IF so you may want to practice in the pool with it. Were you able to warm up in the water first? Always warm up in the water before a race, if possible. Did you go out too fast? Where did you start in your wave? For your first race it may be a good idea to start off to the side or let everyone in your wave go off before you.
Stick with it. For my 1’st tri with a wet suit, I had the same result you had, except I thought I was going to drown. After the race, I swam in the pool with the wet suit a few times (I’m sure I looked foolish), but the next race came (about 3 weeks) and the swim was much easier and I did not have any of the issues.
Can you get a couple of open water practices in before then?
You just need to remain calm and not get caught up in the moment. You had two things working against you. The race start tends to make you go too hard and not stay calm.
and being open water which is scary, the same thing tends to happen.
I can swim fine in a pool, I knock out 400m in about 9 minutes. I can do 1600m without much trouble. I have been swimming for about a year and a half. So I am now a “triathlete” and so I signed up for a sprint triathlon that had a 400meter lake swim in a wetsuit. Never have been in open water and there is no big difference other than the slightly cooler water and you cant see the bottom.
I got about 30 yards out and I could not breath, I lost my stroke and had to roll over on my back and kick. I thought OK, first time jitters and tried to calm down but at the same time wanted to swim fast so I kicked on my back like a madman. I looked and I was ahead of two others but was way back in my wave. So I turned over and tried my stroke but since I was breathing so hard I could not breath, I needed more air than I could get during my stroke. So of the 400m swim, I could only do about 50 meters in freestyle.
When I got out of the water I felt like I sprinted a 5k. I was exhausted, needless to say when I got out of my seven minute T1, I felt to tired to do any damage on the bike, and only pulled out a 27min 5k. I have a international distance race in Miami on the 15th.
Don’t give up!! The most important thing to me is a really good warm up!! If I miss the warm up, I have feelings similar to yours that I have to ignore.
+1 Do some OW swims as workouts. Warm up long enough and hard enough to get your breathing in a groove and your HR up - allow just enough rest (5 min) to not get too cold before your wave. Go out SLOW. Find a nice pair of feet to watch.
Long-time swimmer, and had done several open-water swims back in the day before wetsuits became the norm, but the first one I did w/ the new wetsuit the constriction definitely resulted in a momentary freak-out where I had to stop and undo the collar before I settled down and was able to get back to a ‘normal-ish’ swim. That also happened to be the most murky, weedy open-water swim I’ve ever done which was kind of a double-whammy. Once you get used to the wetsuit, however, I think you’ll find the extra buoyancy kind of nice.
X2 on what Devlin said about the wetsuit. If you haven’t swam in one before it can feel constricting. Also, what you wear under it can make a difference.
When I swam in a tri top and shorts under the wetsuit, no breathing problems. I switched to a DeSoto TriFoil suit and the compression of that suit plus the wetsuit made breathing almost impossible. I now keep the tri suit unzipped under the wetsuit and zip it up on the way to T1.
As for the Oly race, if you feel that you have the fitness for it then you should do it. If the wetsuit wasn’t the issue then open waters jitters are just something you’ll have to get over. Start on one side (left or right) of the wave. Relax during the swim, don’t feel like you need to lead the pack. Focus on the next buoy, not where the finish is.
Happens to nearly every single new triathlete. I came from a scuba diving backwards and while I never had the panic and flailing first experience, my first race was significantly less stellar than I hoped even though I felt great in the pool. Nearly every other one of my training buddies had a similar experience as you.
The goal of any first open water session should be primarily wetsuit fit and adjustment and floating face down comfortably. I would then do a pretty short distance of actual swimming right at the end on the way back to shore. Better to end short with that being a success that going out and trying to get in a full workout.
I don’t know what wetsuit you were using, but make sure you’ve got it pulled up as far as it will go and make sure it’s not too tight across the chest. Make sure to pull the sleeves way up before zipping it up. When you get in the water, adjust it again to make sure it’s not compressing your chest. I’m not sure if it’s a purely mental thing or if there’s something to be said for a tight wetsuit actually preventing you getting a deep breath… but it does make a difference.
Don’t worry about it. I did my first of two sprints last year. I grew up surfing in murky water, started to swim at a local pool in Atlanta to train for Tris. My swimming was fine, I thought. My first sprint was a 650 yd time trial start. I went in with my partner and completely blew up. I couldn’t breath, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t do more than 3 strokes w/out freaking out. I wanted to quit. I was baffled by it. I was swimming over people, people were hitting me. I finally got threw the swim. 525 yds in about 10:30. I can swim much better than that.
It was more mental than anything. I’ve been through my first and new what to expect a few months late for my second. This time it was a wave start. I knew I wouldn’t be able to see much & that I needed to stay relaxed and not get overly worked up like I did in my first race. I had my mind set right and swam a much better more inline time 400m in 6:30.
You know what to expect now and I think that was the biggest thing for me to get over.
I can swim fine in a pool, I knock out 400m in about 9 minutes. I can do 1600m without much trouble. I have been swimming for about a year and a half. So I am now a “triathlete” and so I signed up for a sprint triathlon that had a 400meter lake swim in a wetsuit. Never have been in open water and there is no big difference other than the slightly cooler water and you cant see the bottom.
I got about 30 yards out and I could not breath, I lost my stroke and had to roll over on my back and kick. I thought OK, first time jitters and tried to calm down but at the same time wanted to swim fast so I kicked on my back like a madman. I looked and I was ahead of two others but was way back in my wave. So I turned over and tried my stroke but since I was breathing so hard I could not breath, I needed more air than I could get during my stroke. So of the 400m swim, I could only do about 50 meters in freestyle.
When I got out of the water I felt like I sprinted a 5k. I was exhausted, needless to say when I got out of my seven minute T1, I felt to tired to do any damage on the bike, and only pulled out a 27min 5k. I have a international distance race in Miami on the 15th.
Should I just forget it?
Do you still believe this?
Happened to me too on my first open water tri. Just wanted to chime in to say keep at it like the others - it will get better! Just do your best to RELAX when the gun goes off.
it still happens to me after 6 races… at Cancun 70.3 my HR was 130 before going into the water…needless to say I panicked when I got a leak and had the samething happen to me you just described… I lack open water swimming like you so thats what im gonna work on this yr…
When do you get to Miami??? I dont have a wetsuit but i could use the practice in the open lol…let me know cuz the local tri club has a swim on wednesday during the week I believe though it changes so im not 100% sure
I don’t get the creepies from open water, but I blew up bad at my first tri. I was so amped up and eager to race that I was blowing up just 50 yards in. My HR was exploding and I couldn’t relax in to any kind of comfortable breathing pattern. I ended up doing most of the swim in sidestroke so I could breath freely. I was so exhausted when I hit the beach I couldn’t run to T1.
The first I learned was to warm up beforehand so you get used to the water and get your HR up a bit. Whenever I do any kind of exercise from a cold start my HR spikes the first 15 minutes. Slowing down a bit and trying to find my stroke in the first few minutes helped too. I’m not an FOP swimmer anyway so my goal is to be smooth first and keep a pace that will get me in to T1 ready to ride my ass off.
If you are in North America, I would think that the lake water would be more than “slightly cooler”. I think our lakes still have ice on them. It sounds like you just need to do more OW swimming and more time in your wetsuit. Once I got used to lake swimming, I really enjoy it, reminds me of playing in the lakes as a kid.
