Anyone ever develop open water swim panic ? I’m a solid swimmer, and have never worried about swimming across lakes, etc… But this past summer, twice I started panicking when I was well out there. Seems like a mental deal, so just focusing on staying calm should take care of it, but it does create a certain amount of fear.
I didn’t come from a swimming background, but deal with anxiety on a day to day basis.
I remember by first open water experience. By that time, I was easily swimming 2k yards a session, about 6 or 7 months since beginning. I felt strong enough to attempt an open water swim at a local lake known by swimmers/triathletes with the regular morning crew. Long story short: I got to the first buoy 100 yards offshore and an overwhelming feeling that death was inevitable came over me. I stopped and left the lake.
I returned the next morning filled with positive self talk and a fun noodle tied to my foot with a surfboard leash. Did I look like a wanker? Sure did. Did I get across that damn lake? Hell yeah.
I still get weirded out by open water anxiety sometimes, but you just need to remember that you can always flip on your back if something bad were to happen. Also, counting your breaths/strokes helps ease your mind so you can find a groove. Instead of worrying about the worst that could happen, it focuses your mind on the rhythmic task at hand.
Also, the Swim-it kicks ass. I have one and use it if I train in open water. Peace of mind.
I had the same problem with my 2nd tri (strangely no problem with the first) and have experienced it off and on throughout the year. I’ve found that a warmup is critical for me. If they won’t let me in the water I try and get my head under a few times at the very least while we wait for the start. I’ve always found that it goes away after 300-500m so I keep pushing myself while reminding myself that it will eventually go away.
http://303triathlon.com/Open-Water-Swim-Anxiety-Maybe-not-a-panic-attack-after-all
I found that article to be helpful.
i’ve never experienced this, but other who have have given the advice to do more OWS events. i’ve been racing open water since I was very young and been swimming competitively for nearly 2 decades now. i raced big shoulders 5k a year or two back and even was a little nervous starting with 200-odd other people. but i didn’t panic.
just know that it takes events and confidence to get over it!
We you wearing a wetsuit? The two times I have had mild panic attacks were while I was wearing a wetsuit. The neck collar felt like it was restricting my breathing. Once I lowered my head it no longer felt constrictive and the panic feeling went away.
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Good article and I actually do a lot of what it talks about. I’ve been at this for 5 years and it’s only happened twice, but it happened twice this past season so it stuck in my mind. I’ve also looked at pulling one of those swim safety floats behind me for extra piece of mind.
I was a competitive swimmer more than 50 years ago, have been doing Tris’s since the early nineties, so about 23 years, have lost count of how many I have done, including 7 IM’s, been to Worlds 3 times, usually place in top few (in AG) in any swim portion. This is a list not as a boast but as a back story.
This summer in Chicago in the Olympic distance 300m in I had to stop and scull for a minute and then had to do that twice more during the swim. I am sure there were lots of reasons, but it sure spooked me. Relax and learn to accept that it could happen and if it does happen remember the words on the cover of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxay, “don’t panic”
Good luck.
ugh. this used to happen to me all the time. wetsuit and non wetsuit. my heart rate would feel like it was skyrocketing. hard to breath. tunnel vision. not sure if they were textbook panic attacks or not but that is exactly how i would describe what was happening. unrelated but i can totally see how if I had a heart condition or some other preexisting condition that I could imagine having a heart attack.
anyway, these attics have (gratefully) subsided over the past few years or there is no way that I would still be in the sport. I would echo that a warm-up swim really helps. if that is not a possibility, something else that helped me was swimming on the course or as close as possible to the course even the day before. In south texas many of the races i liked didn’t seem to allow warm up swims so I would sneak in nearby the day before. Something about being in the water in a calm state prior to the gun seems to do the trick.
Also, I still today don’t go all out in the first 400m then settle in like some folks do. I worry that going from zero to 60 like that might set the panic off.
I’ve also noticed that beach starts are easier for me than deep water starts. No idea why. A practice swim then a beach start (like IMFL or Mt. Tremblant) is my favorite way to go.
I’ve also tried a mantra and tried counting strokes. This seems to give my mind something to focus on. And visualizing myself in a small box of water and just keeping my focus on what is happening inside my box seems to help.
You’re definitely not alone. There are lots of things you can do to re-focus mentally, and to make things a little easier for yourself in open water. I wrote this awhile back… I hope you can find something helpful in it.
http://must-be-half-crazy.blogspot.ca/2014/05/open-water-relaxation-tips-for.html
I’ve had some level of panic in more of my OW swims than not over the past five years. For me it’s 100% mental. If I can get my mind focused on something it keeps it from going places it shouldn’t. The more competitive I’ve gotten the better it’s been, as I’m really focusing on the race. One thing that helped last year was that I set my Garmin to beep every 50 yds. May sound crazy but when the panic would set in during the first 200-300 yds it was pretty easy to convince myself that was nothing in a pool so settle down, slow down, and just swim. As others have mentioned get into OW as much as you safely can.
Pretty common.
By far the best thing is to get in and warmup before the swim. Many races don’t allow a pre race swim BUT:
Almost every wave start race has 5 minutes between waves, be the first person in and swim back and forth before the start. 20 strokes up / 20 strokes back / 20 strokes up / 20 strokes back. You easily have 3 minutes to swim like that, that’s a 150 warmup for even the slowest folks. No one else will be doing that, they’ll all be treading water being nervous - let em. You can be in front of the start line or do it behind everyone else. Actually if you fight anxiety in swim starts, probably should be behind the wave anyway.
I’ve also had people count to 20 after the horn goes off and then start. It makes ou be there and relax, the water clears out, good idea.
Even if you can’t swim to warm up, you want to warmup somehow. You might say you are burning off your nervous energy, but you are taking advantage of the same relaxation you get after a workout. You’re all anxious, go do your 20 minutes run and your mind settles. Same thing here, go get your heart rate up somehow for 5 to 10 minutes before the race and you’ll feel a lot better.
This is in addition to all the active and passive relaxation exercises you can find spread about on the internet.
Just try and get in a groove in a pack around your speed. Good luck !
Its completely mental for me, I think pacing is key and being zen like…
Yes! Anyone who hasn’t will at some point. It does not matter how fast you are. I fear and respect every race start. Now what to do about it. My biggest improvements came when I was swimming in a lake at 6:00am (with others). It was often dark to start. Second. 400s in the pool all out breathing every 5 strokes, even at the walls. Your panic reflex will start to activate. Train yourself to deal with it.
Now I’m scared before every race, but last year when a jet ski buzzed our local race I came alive and passed a lot of people. I don’t think there is a secret. Everyone feels nervous in a swim start. I have felt a little panic in every race I have done and had full blown stop swimming panic in two races. The way to overcome it for me is to practice practice practice.
Note: I don’t recommend swimming in a lake in the dark. That is stupid …
Yes. Although I practiced many times in open water before my first tri, I still had to backstroke/scull most of the way. Same for my second. The combination of race adrenaline, wetsuit, splashing, realizing how deep the lake is and how far away from shore you are, etc. that does it for me. Google “lizard brain” – I’ve heard it explained that the sensory experience of splashing and without free oxygen can trigger panic even though your logical brain knows that you have the ability to safely swim.
If this is a new thing, perhaps there is anxiety elsewhere in your life that is triggering it. Had it been a while since you were in a lake? Maybe you lost your sense of comfort. If not, there is nothing that prepares you for open water swimming like open water swimming. I really didn’t feel comfortable in the open water until I started swimming across a small local lake almost every weekend in the summer. Like a poster above, I tie a $1 pool noodle to my waist with a race belt just in case, which helps the mental aspect of it. Otherwise it’s just practice, practice, practice.
ETA: Getting in the water before a race is CRITICAL for me avoiding panic. Even if you just go out to just deeper than you can touch and splash around and get your face wet, that should help a lot, since you’re not shocking your body at the race gun. Also like mentioned above, I did a race this year with no warm-up swim, but I still got in the water as soon as they let our wave in and swam off to one side and back for just a minute. Even that little bit helped me avoid panicking.
I’m an adult onset swimmer. I was one of those kids whose fear of the pool was dealt with by adults tossing me in (is this child abuse now?). Anyway, despite lots and lots of laps in the pool, I used to panic almost every time I started in open water. I figured out a few things to help me deal. First, I developed a mantra: “this is mental, not physical.” This is to remind myself that I know how to swim, this has happened before and every time, once I got past the panic, I was able to swim forward. Just focus on taking a deep breath, cutting out the “but I’m losing time!” thoughts and calm down. Second, warm up whenever possible. Third, check to see if wetsuit is too tight in neck or restricts arm movement. Fourth, know my triggers. If the water is particularly cold or choppy, it is more likely I’ll panic (warmups are crucial for these conditions). Even without the panic, I’m not a fast swimmer, so in these conditions I try to stay out of the fray as much as possible until I know I’m ok. All of these things have helped tremendously, and I rarely lose it in the water anymore, even in tough conditions and washing machine starts.
Good article. Again the thing that prompted me to start this thread was the onset of this happening twice to me this past season, and it was during morning practice swims with a couple of buddies, not a race. So out of the hundreds of one water swims I’ve done over the past 5 years, all of a sudden this happens and you just start to wonder… My guess is that something must have been out of whack those two days which caused this.
Good article. Again the thing that prompted me to start this thread was the onset of this happening twice to me this past season, and it was during morning practice swims with a couple of buddies, not a race. So out of the hundreds of one water swims I’ve done over the past 5 years, all of a sudden this happens and you just start to wonder… My guess is that something must have been out of whack those two days which caused this.
Did you start swimming 5 yrs ago to do triathlons??? How much do you swim per week on average??? Do you swim 50-52 wk/yr??? What’s your longest swim ever, either in the pool or OW??? Can you swim 4000 meters in your sleep???
Yes, I was always a decent swimmer, but got into tris 5 years ago and have swam 3-4 days a week ever since(usually 1500-2500 every time). Other than getting tired, I could do the 4000 yds both in the pool or in open water.