This past May I started taking swimming lesson at the local swim center. I started to improve from swimming a half lap to now swimming 1400 meters, with minor breaks. After signing up for one of those tri-for-reals I made it a point to swim in the open water. That was quite an eye opener, since all of my form, ability and breathing goes out the window and I just freak out. Is this common? Does anyone have any hints on how to overcome this fear?
My first open water swim in a race resulted in hyperventilating and ending up on my back for the whole mile. I know of no one who has not experienced anxiety in their first open water race. The only way through it is EXPERIENCE. You either learn how your body responds when you have thrashing going on all around you and realize you can do it or you take up bowling :)…good luck.
My first two races were a hyperventilating/side stroke to survive mess. 
It gets better as your body and mind climatize to the new stress. It will pass, you just have to continue to do it. My only real suggestion is to start WAY to the outside at the starts to give yourself your own swim space.
Good luck!
Kitty- I practiced treading water in the pool until I could do that for 15 minutes, ending more bored than tired. ← That gave me the confidence that no matter what happened in the open water, I could tread water for as long as needed until help arrived. That, combined with the flotation of a wetsuit, was enough for me to have no open-water fears. Good luck!
I did two open water swims to date. One was a short practice (that should have told me to practice more) the other was the Oly race itself. I have read and heard that panic is typical. I did not panic, I had other issues. My mindset was calm. Start there. Calm yourself and think of how much fun it is. Do what works for you to relax your mind. Stay out of the crowd and stay back. Try some more open water swims if you can.
My swim was god awful, not due to panic. I didn’t practice open water. I didn’t build up enough swim endurance. I sighted way too often. My goggles fogged up (use anti fog stuff). …but I still enjoyed it!
My 2nd tri was an open water swim. I decided that I needed to try it out before the event so 1 week before the tri I showed up a club open water swim and felt just like you mentioned. I then proceeded to freak out for the entire week even though I knew I could do the distance. In the event (500 yard swim) I made it to the 1/2 way point before I was reduced to the breast stroke, back stroke, doggie paddle I just couldn’t get my breathing under control.
That was last year. This year I have been to the lake once a week all summer. It took me about 4 times before I was able to start to control my breathing and just swim. While I still think about the deep water and such, I am much more comfortable now. Just get out there as often as you can. This is a mental thing so you have to go into it wanting to get better, not dreading the session.
Good luck!
Josh
I think the best thing for you to do is get in the open water as much as you can. Look for masters swim teams that also practice in open water. Usually the open water practices are pretty mellow lsd swims. You might also want to sign up for a couple of aquathons next season if any are around. They are great for experience in race situations as well as a good speed workout!
I am trying to understand this open water phobia you have. My wife also freaks out in open water and I have never understood why. Is it the depth? Animals in the water with you but unseen? Is it a fear of drowning? I am very sincerely curious. I have always felt at home in the water, especially in oceans and large lakes and if anything I feel MORE calm being in water. I do get some butterlies before a race, but because of the race itself.
Have you been able to identify what excactly freaks you out? My wife for example hates to have her head underwater. She’ll freak out even going underwater in a pool. Congrats by the way on your swimming improvements. That’s huge!
I’d suggest you practice as much as you can in open water, and it should get easier. Prior to my first open water triathlon I went to the local lake to practice swimming, and it was awful – waves, couldn’t see, breathing off, no walls, etc – totally different than the pool experience I was used to. It gets a lot easier the more you practice, now swimming in open water doesn’t phase me at all. Just like your pool swimming improved with practice, your open water swimming will too.
I’m afraid of open water. The deep end of the pool, the mud, the fish, the weeds, the garbage, drowning, the darkness, all of it. Four years ago I decided I wanted to do a tri and started learning how to swim. It took a long time. After my first year of training, I did my first open water swim. Wearing a wetsuit gave me a lot of confidence. Also, at the race, seeing the many volunteers on kayaks/boats gave me a feeling of safety.
In my second year I improved immsensly in the pool. Becoming more effecient in the pool, becoming a stronger swimmer helped my confidence a lot. Even still, when the water would get choppy/wavy I would almost start panicking. Swallow some water, water in the goggles and I’m hyperventilating.
This year my swim times improved (not as drastically as last year) but the added mileage added to my confidence. Some guys in the club were talking about renting a cottage and I joined them. With my swimming-background-gf, she coaxed (partly teased/bugged/pushed) me into the lake a lot. One big difference though; this lake was pristine. It was clear, somewhat shallow and fairly warm. I think the visibility underwater and the temperature helped a lot. I think swimming with someone who is patient and encouraging with you in nice, calm water can help immensly.
When your’e in open water you’re probably sighting more so you don’t streamline as well as you do in the pool (at least for me) In the pool my head faces down, in open water I tend to look up more and I don’t reach as “far” with my arms. I also increase my stoke rate. Calm down, take long easy strokes. You’ve improved a lot from 25m to 1400m. As my friend described, swimming is really hard to learn; its a Catch 22. A lot of it is technique but as a beginner you do the drills wrong. As you swim more you learn more about exactly how a drill should feel; and what “rolling your body” or “stretch far” etc. mean. Its that balance of mileage and drills that proper motiation and encouragement will nurture. I’m assuming you’re doing the tri to finish. Start at the back of the start so you don’t get pummeled, swum over by the more experienced swimmers. Don’t be afraid to stop at the buoy or just flip over on your back with the wetsuit - you’ll just float like a seal. (its cool) Tread water, doggie paddle, backstroke, breaststroke, its all fine. You kow you can do the distance, believe in yourself.
One other drill I would think you should prepare for is the mass start. See if you can jam 5-10 friends into your LANE. And pretend you’re starting a race wall to wall. You’ll be sloshing and hitting arms and feet - but honestly you need to be comfortable with it. In open water if you start panicking with the flailing arms and feet, swallow some water etc. Its not a pretty sight. See if you are comfortable taking your goggles off in the deep end of the pool to get water out if they get dislodged etc. With friends its fun, in a race, chances are you won’t know your neighbours…
Anyway I hope I didn’t stray too far, Good luck at your tri - from one non-swimmer to another.
It’s all in your head… but it’s there nonetheless!
As a former IAAF All-American, I entered my first wetsuit tri expecting absolutely no problems. Water was 58º (I had been practicing in 79º) and my feet and hands were nearly numb before the start. Between the tightness of the wetsuit around my neck and chest, the water temperature and the scrum at the start, I swam way too hard trying to warm up and free myself from the pack, and ended up hyperventilating, backstroking and would have abandoned the race were it not for the king-sized ration of shit I would have taken from a friend who was there…
Good news is that you survive it and after two or three races it’s a non-issue. You’re better off expecting to panic and then it won’t be so bad.
I had the exact same problem. If I could have discreetly exited the water during my first race I would have done it. I was having a major panic attack. Instead of getting out of the water, I treaded water a lot, sighted about every third stroke, did backstroke, etc., and managed to not be the last person out of the water - though I was almost last.
I did practice open water swimming after that a few times and it definitely helped. Experience is really the only remedy. I still don’t have a good time of it in choppy water or when there are swells - I start to feel seasick - but there have been more than a few races in which I’ve really enjoyed the swim. Not that I’ve done well, but I’ve just enjoyed it which, after that first race, I never thought I’d be able to say. Stick with it! It gets much better.
Well I PMed DEECHEE about this because I was embarrased but I DNF’ed in Guelph this weekend because I sucked up a bunch of water, blew it back out and blew up. Not a pretty sight. Even the wetsuit wasnt enough to save me once my confidence left me. What’s funny is that I grew up on the east coast swimming in the ocean. Oh well. I will swim with a masters program this winter and get in a few open water wetsuit swims before I compete again.
Hellokitty, we’ll have to meet here again in the spring and compare notes. Good luck.
By the way, I think this qualifies me as the forums worst swimmer for 2005.
J
<< By the way, I think this qualifies me as the forums worst swimmer for 2005. >>
Perhaps, but I think I’m still on the podium, if no longer on the top step 
Look at the bright side - you’ll do much better the next time ya race, guaranteed.
I had an interesting revelation this year, after surviving my first HIM swim leg. If the water is clean, and relatively calm (yes, even during a race, just start in back, you won’t miss the 20 seconds offa yer swim split, believe me), then I actually almost enjoy o/w swimming, at least when compared to doing endless mind-numbing laps in a pool. I definitely don’t dread it anymore. Practice definitely helps make you more comfy doing this. I’ve done more swims in ponds, lakes, and rivers this year, than probably my entire previous life totalled (which isn’t very much either way).
On a windy, choppy, or cold day, well - I’m still working on that…
Formerly Worst Swimmer on the Forum 2005.
Funny thing is, I didn’t dread it. I was fine until I started to take on water and spew it back out. Once I tensed, I just felt totally constricted and couldn’t seem to float, even on my back.
I made the decision to bail and race another day rather than make son drive home and explain to everyone how stupid I was. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valour. At least I keep telling myself that 'cause really I’m pretty gutted about it. Next year, next year.
J
I did my first open water swim last friday. i took a friend with me, he paddled on my surfboard for the just incase factor. i swam head out of water the entire way, 500 meters took me 20:30 but its a start. i have a race on the 2nd of oct and hoping i don’t freak out with the mass start. thanks for starting this thread. i got some good advice from it. good luck with your swimming.
Are you wearing a wetsuit. If so just realize that they act like a floatation device and it’s hard to drown wearing one.
Anxiety in the open water is not uncommon with all those people around you kicking and thrashing. I still get it myself once in awhile despite having done numerous tris and over a thousand scuba dives. But I always settle myself down. The secret is just to relax and settle into the situation.
A friend of ours did his first tri this summer and panicked so much that he tried to take his wetsuit off in the swim. Fortunately he calmed down and finished the swim, albiet with his wetsuit half off. Most of his swimming was in the pool and he was not used to wearing a wet suit.
Continue to practice in open water as it will familiarize you more.
By no means am I an expert on this, having done one open-water tri, but I had the same thing. A combination of nerves and the freaking cold water that day (I’ve found from subsequent training in open-water that I’m susceptible to cold, and that it tends to cause my lungs to seize up, even without anyone racing around me)! Eventually, what I found worked best for me, was to just flip over and kick for a while to calm yourself down, get used to the cold, get your heartrate in the right area, and get your breathing under control. As you can see, it’s pretty common, so I wouldn’t worry too much about saving your dignity. There’ll be others in the same situation :)!
Chris
I’m a bad swimmer and although I’m not afraid of Open Water, I get very anxious at the start of a race and my form has typically fallen apart in races(getting better). I’ve done several races, including an IM, but I’m already nervous about the swim in my sprint next weekend, so I’m far from cured—so take my advice for what it’s worth:
I’d say practice in Open water as much as you can before your race, with familiarity comes comfort. When race day comes, I find it helpful to spend ample time in the water, warming up and getting used to the temperature before the start of the race. A lot of people just stand around shivering & peeing in their wetsuits, until the start and it’s a mistake in my opinion. The combination of jumping in cold water, the adreneline of the starting gun and the crowd of racers, can easily make you freak a little when you take off. THis leads to immediate hyperventilation, jacking of your heartrate resulting in a frantic survival mode type stroke.
I find that before the race if I sit/bob in the water for a few minutes to warm up my wetsuit, then 5-10 min of easy swimming helps ease me enough that it’s not quite as shocking when I start the event. Start at the back, swim steady and calm (think Yani, not Guns & Roses). I find that having a little mantra to repeat in my head also helps me stay within myself and keep calm. For example: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast” (I borrowed this phrase from Tri coach Rich Strauss), just repeating it in my head as I swim is helpful to me and keeps me from jacking up my stroke rate and flailing to survive.
Oh,and dont forget about those big man/woman eating sharks…they lurk around underneath all the swimmers looking for the scared and slow ones…So, with you swimming out there with me, I have a less chance of being breakfast!!!
Geeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzz,just kidding…Keep swimming out there, your confidence will build!