Now i'm all scared for my first tri this weekend. I guess i'll see how it goes...

This past time in the last 200 yards I tried to breast stroke for a bit and then back to crawl and I only did about 5-6 strokes before I went back to breast stroke. I was breathing very hard in T1 and then did 13 miles on the bike at 20.5mph average which is my best pace so far. Maybe it is panic. The feeling is pretty much the same as the fifth 50m on a 1 minute interval in the pool.

I was on the way back to shore so I shouldn't have been in panic mode. If this is what panic/anxiety feels like it is definitely a new and confusing feeling. I will certainly give the mantra a shot.

Swimming is the roughest for me. I was surprised though at my first tri last weekend (yay I did it!) the swimming was not as intense as I expected. I swim in open water (choppy good ol Lake Michigan) about3-5 days a week and this seemed to give me an advantage. I did a mixture of freestyle and then side stroke to catch my breath. I ended up in the middle of the pack which I was very happy with.

I, too, get this "oh man I can't catch my breath feeling." I've noticed as of recent that if I give myself a few strokes of coming up for air with each right arm stroke for maybe 3 strokes or so it seems to help. Is this a bad habit to get into? I typically come up on every other stroke.

I am also finding that the smoother I get at swimming and the rythym of it all that my breathing is getting a lot better. I wish I could rush the process but... I think that this may just be something that gets better with time... like most things... you have to start somewhere:)

One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned...breathing out.
Seems simple, but alot of people, especially in the first rush off the beach let their breathing get out of control by forgetting to breathe out while there face is in the water...when their face breaks the surface they try and do both...breathe out AND in...not good. Since nature abhors a vacume, if you roll for air with empty lungs,,,man! the air just rushes in...
For the record I bi-lat breathe in training but breathe like Mom when racing...everytime my right arm extends out and I roll, my face is in the air sucking in the good gasses! I'm not fast but I get out of the swim feeling like "Wa-Hoo! What's next!" Instead of "OMG...I'm wacked already!"

Mark,

Good job, it sounds like you have continued to conquer the swim challenge without giving up. Don't worry, it takes time and practice, you'll get there.

It doesn't say on your post, are you wearing a wetsuit during the race. If so, could that tight feeling also be contributing to your issue? I remember the first time I swam with a wetsuit, I wasn't sure i'd make the distance and I could swim 4 to 5 thousand yards in the pool no problem. I also remember that my breathing was much higher that first race. Eventually I got comfortable in my wetsuit and haven't had a problem since. If you don't have a wetsuit, do the races your participate in allow them? If so, I'd get one, they will help you.

Besides the wetsuit, nerves/stress can contribute to your issue. You might be comfortable swimming in a pool all by yourself in a lane but when you add open water and many people at the same time, your heart rate can increase dramatically, which will cause a panic feeling and possibly cause your shortness of breath. I would suggest doing more open water swimming.

You mention you have a coach to help you with your stroke but you might need a coach to give you specific workouts. Just swimming 1000 yards non-stop in a pool is not going to get you to go faster. You need to do some interval work. You need some workouts that will get you use to swimming faster. Is there a masters swim program in your neck of the woods, if so check them out. Don't worry about being slow, they usually have people of all abilities swimming. If not search the web and you'll find some specific swim workouts.

Another one from Indy! Cool!

Aside from the above advice, how often are you breathing? For distance OWS there is absolutely nothing wrong with breathing every stroke, and a lot of really good distance guys do.

As far as possibly swimming above your ability, I usually experience muscle fatigue and elevated heart rate before trouble breathing if I'm going too fast.

It might just take some time, keep thinking positive in that you said it was better at Eagle Creek, don't think about the time it returned.

We need to organize a Trifuel Indy meet up sometime...

I have had the same problem with feeling extremely out of breath during a swim, to the point of having to stop. I'm not a fast swimmer or very experienced by any means, but here is what i changed:
1. breath every stroke. every time my right arm comes up i breath.
2. focus on breathing out, hard, as soon as your face hits the water, until it is out of the water again and you are inhaling. i think this is really important.
3. kick less! i found that i was expending a ton of energy and getting winded because i was kicking too hard too much. if I start to feel winded i focus on kicking only 1-2 times per stroke, or even just enough to keep my legs from sinking. for a while, i was kicking too little, but bit by bit have worked up to a good level of kicking for speed without getting winded.
hope this helps! keep working hard!

nice work! congratulations. now you can work on getting faster and faster and faster :)

Wow, I am really getting alot from these posts, thank you all so much. Triathlon is a brand new thing for me, and Aug. 25, is my
1st one... learning to swim freestyle correctly is a real trip. It's interesting to learn that the issues my partner and I are going through are not uncommon, and are part of the process. I did notice yesterday while watching the Escape from Alcatraz, that the swimmers appeared to take a breath every other stroke, which was something I thought was wrong, and reserved for "emergency mode"!