I'm Worried About Starting Openwater Swimming

Taking that first dive into the water can be intimidating, in fact it can be one of the main reasons that people stay away from competing in a triathlon at all. A lot of it though, news flash, isn’t actually that different from swimming in a regular old pool! It’s mostly just about how you perceive it. 

Why Does It Feel Different?

There are many reasons that you may feel intimidated, but here are the main things that may be bothering you;

There are no walls

Not having the comfort of edges is a battle that simply comes from the idea of what if you need to get out? You can’t just be in the middle of a river and decide that that’s it, you’ve had enough. You’ve still got to manage to drag yourself out of it somehow!

There are no lanes

Not having lanes can be a bit intimidating. What if you start to drift the wrong way? What if you end up getting lost? And those little floating things are always such a reassurance just in case, since there is always something to hang onto if the worst was to happen.

It’s colder and darker

Oh a warm heated pool would be the daily dream. Perhaps some mood lighting as well to go with it? Some champagne on ice waiting for you to get out and lounge next to the water. Unfortunately, the ocean doesn’t have time for your feelings or the time to play nice. It’s colder and darker, and there might even be monsters lurking under the surface.

Large crowds with the possibility of contact

The worst experience that has happened to me in a pool is finding that someone else's plaster had decided that it wanted a new owner. On my arm. The thought of that many people diving in at once, and what about getting kicked in the face? People need to kick to swim! 

The Myths to Conquer

Swim fast to stay safe

Okay, so since there’s no walls to be able to get out whenever you want, that means you’ve got to swim fast and ensure that you get out of there as quickly as possible! But that simply isn’t true. The truth of the matter is that you are safe the whole time you’re in the water. If anything, the recommendation would be to swim slower than what you usually would do. I know, counterintuitive if you’re trying to win a race, but you will feel much more secure if you have the reserved energy to back it up. Afterall, you can simply use that energy to get more ahead on the bike or the run afterwards, an area you’ll probably feel more comfortable in.

If I panic, I should stop

Nuhuh, wrong again. If you do find that you start to panic in the water, you shouldn’t just start treading water. Despite what the movies may depict when everyone falls off a boat, it is way more energy conservative to roll over onto your back. We are naturally buoyant that way, and it requires way less energy and concentration to be on your back than it does to keep yourself up right. Not to mention, you’ll probably be wearing a wetsuit, which is basically a cheat sheet for keeping yourself up in the water. And there are no rules saying you can’t do that for a minute or two to calm yourself down.

Everyone else is calm, what’s wrong with me?

Everyone else is definitely not calm. Sure you may find that there are the triathlon enthusiasts who have done more races than times they’ve gone to sleep, but that is not the usual. A lot of people find the swim to be the hardest part physically and mentally too. You’re not alone just because you see a bunch of other people at the starting line. 

There are monsters in the water

Okay, so this one may sound silly, but your brain is programmed to fear the unknown. When you have to put yourself into a lake or the ocean that you can’t see all the way down in and then you’re told to just continue, having a fear of a monster or a shark or anything along those lines is actually quite rational. One thing to remember though is that the water you’re in will be tried and tested for anything ‘monsterous’. Even the non-typical version of ‘monster’, like pollution, is still considered. 

I’m Still Worried

Good, you should be. It’s perfectly normal and perfectly human. Reading this blog written by a random woman you’ve never met may make you feel better for around 5 minutes, until you remember that I haven’t even mentioned the fact that seaweed can get wrapped around your feet and drag you down! I’m obviously joking, that can’t happen. But my point still stands.

My best advice would be to try and remember that you’re not alone with feeling nervous, especially if you’re not used to doing it. It’s like anything else though, you just need to get in there and start because that’s the hardest part.