Scared like crazy
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RV posted 1 year ago.
Really the only thing to do is to do it. Meaning, make sure you do a bunch of OWS prior to your race. Just take it slow - It takes time to get comfortable. Best is to just focus on one thing. Concentrate on your stroke, that will help keep you relaxed and help keep your breathing controlled. Once you get going then it is really not much different than swimming in the pool.
If you are using a wetsuit then that helps even more, and not just from the buoyancy aspect but it helps as a mental life preserver as you know you wont sink.
I was a very poor swimmer when I started and had a tough time in OW, but was able to work through it. Now I really enjoy OWS.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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skunkworxz posted 1 year ago.
i'm right there with ya. i nearly drowned as a kid (i remember seeing the bottom, the blacking out and waking up with people looking at me on the dock) so, me and water are not friends.
i found that doing an open water swimmer with someone else who is experienced at it helped me get through a lot of my fears before my first tri, which was last weekend. i was a bit sketched out at first, but i focused on the fact that i had done the OWS in training, and it really helped.
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beads1985 posted 1 year ago.
I agree with doing OWS with others and keep it close to shore until you get your confidence.
Then you can start humming the 'Jaws' music in no time.
''Nothing to it, but to do it''
http://beads1985.trifuel.net/
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nmylmt posted 1 year ago.
All,
Thanks for the inputs. I will definitely try and find an OWS group and stay close to land. Thanks for the JAWS input as well. I will post w/updates.
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kkocan posted 1 year ago.
Despite being a very strong swimmer and years of waterskiing and other lake activities, I too was nervous of the 'cant see the bottom, what's out there trying to get me' scenario. Yet in several tris, and this is my first year, I haven't even thought about it once the starters gun went off. I seemed to get into a rythm or get behind someone I wanted to draft off of and concentrated on teh race and the course and before you knew it I was out of the water. This includes a couple of sprints in open water where I was in the top 3 of my wave, a .4 mile swim three weeks ago in a Tri in lake Erie with 3-4 foot waves where I was second out of the water in my wave and was 15-20 yards behind the first guy and in front of the third guy, and a half last weekend where I spent 30 minutes picking my way through the prevoius wave's swimmers and the spring/olympic swimmers on teh course. The point being that in none of those events did the creepiness ever pop into my head. Now, a week before the half IM I practiced swimming along the shore at our cottage in a lake I had swam in thousands of time to get used to my new wetsuit, and after just a few minutes and despite only being in 4-5 feet of water it was murky enough for the eriness to set in and I thought I had to get out of the water. So it's definitly all in your head and you will be suprised at how little you will think about it in the actual race. Good luck!
________________________________________________
2008 Main Races:
VA Beach Shamrock Marathon
Desoto TTT
WV Mountaineer HIM
IM Wisconsin
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Anton posted 1 year ago.
Once the Gun/whistle/cannon/claxon go off...all those thoughts will disappear and you'll just go.
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://anton.trifuel.net
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Keebler71 posted 1 year ago.
nmylmt;53199 wrote:
Ive swam in the middle of the altantic ocean and med sea (long story) but I cant get the open water some out of my head.
I too am in the Navy... done the middle of the Atlantic although I passed on the swim calls in the P Gulf... that water looks gross!
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christri25 posted 1 year ago.
if its your time, its your time .... look at steve irwin ... accidents happen ... if a shark is gonna get me so be it, i guess i could just be scared or just not care then if i dont care i dont worry. like anton said when the gun goes off your not going to care about a shark, you won't care about bills, things you have to do that day or any thing else for that matter. racing is a great place to just be mindless only to focus on getting from point a to point b fast. the endorphines kick in and you'll be high. just be amazed. enjoy the suffering.
Chris
``It's not as if I'm going to sit around and be a fat slob,''
Lance Armstrong 2005
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deepbluex posted 1 year ago.
If your experience is anything like mine, when everyone in your wave runs to the water, you will feel psychologically pulled into a primal pack mentality which can overcome a lot of the individual fear you'd feel about running into the ocean just by yourself. There's something both anxiety-inducing and calming at the same time to be amongst a group. By the time you're swimming, you'll be too busy to be afraid.
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stupidjon71 posted 1 year ago.
I swam in the Detroit River in the Motor City Tri. It was Olympic, and the swim was triangular (around one bouy, with the current, around another, and against the current back to T1). On the last leg, the current pushed us all into a seaweed bed.
Now, this is the Detroit River. A dead body was found upstream the week following (not a triathlete, thank God). My friends joked that my wetsuit would disintegrate before I finished. So there was some fear.
So in this kelpbed, ALL I could think of was, "If I see a dead hand underneath me, I am gonna sh!t in my Orca." I was seriously freaked. My stroke count picked way up and did all I could to get the hell out of the river.
I don't know if I will swim the Detroit River again, but needless to say, swimming in small lakes in Michigan is MUCH more relaxing. I generally hum stupid songs as I exhale in the water. I also think about T1 over and over to keep my mind off the darkness below.
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tridog posted 1 year ago.
Definately take a few test runs. For me it was the total lack of visibility that freaked me out. Once I did it a couple of times it disappeared. I would reccomend on your first race that you think about finding a place to start that is a bit out of the fray if you still are not comfortable. A kick in the face and a mouthful of water are something to avoid if you want to keep the nerves under control. Good Luck!
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
Vincent T Lombardi
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usasportstrain posted 1 year ago.
The SwimSafe inflation device may help give you some peace of mind. You can find it at Triaids.
We carry it on our site at a nice discount, you are interested.
There's also some good books and dvd's on open water swimming, if you want helpful tips and advice.
http://www.usasportstraining.com - Triathlon Training Gear, DVDs, Books
Im training for my first tri (I dont have one picked yet because I havent seen an 07 schedule yet) As I do my swim workouts (in a pool) I think about one thing...im scared of the open water swim in tri's. Ive swam in the middle of the altantic ocean and med sea (long story) but I cant get the open water some out of my head. I think I have seen one too many Jaws movies. So part of my inspiration in the tri is to conquer my fear. I am a solid swimmer so thats not my concern..just so much deepness where I cant see beneath me. So, anyone out ther have the same fear or tips how to overcome?