Fear of Open Water Ocean Swimming

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• I love the water but sharks I am terrified of
  I am 12 and going to Florida on the march
  break but I can't swim in dark or murky
  water because I can't see the bottom I know
  that sharks attack only three people a year
  but I could be on of those people right I also
  know dolphins protect people from sharks
  but still what if there are no dolphins around
  if you have any advice please help

• i hate dark water and murky lakes. well...all lakes. for some reason what i imagine in lakes is a terrible, moss covered, green, reptilian, red eyed, mutant, monster. i have no problem with the ocean because IF something actually does attack me i know what it is. a shark. most likely.
  i live near pigwon forge TN and we had some friends come in for a while. we went to the new Titanic museum/exhibition/whatever they want to call it and there's a room in there that mimics the same conditions as it was when the Titanic sank, 28 degree water and darkness. So...i dipped my hand in the water and it was cold. Then my brother dipped his hand up to his forearm...so i had to best him. I dipped my hand in up to my elbow and my fingers didn't touch the bottom of the pool they had and i immediately shuddered with fear and pulled my hand out with an actual gasp. that really embarrassed me in front of my little brother but what can you do? dark/murky water is the most terrifying thing on this planet. we are completely out of our element in crystal clear water.

• I am horribly afraid of oceans. I wont even go swimming in lakes. I have been for years and i am also afraid of the dark and it makes me wonder if i am afraid of what i cant see. Help!

• It feels good to know that there are other chickens-of-the-sea (so to speak) out there, but it doesn't change much for me...so if anyone can comment on this, I would appreciate it: I live on the Gulf side of Florida and am at the beach all the time. I have done 3 triathlons and when I get in the open water for the actual competition, I am not really scared of the sealife or dark water...it is PRACTICE that I can't do! See, I'm not a fast swimmer (11 min/400m in a pool). That I can work on. The problem is that when I get in the water for the tri, I immediately panic and cannot get myself under control - like negative adrenaline takes over (not fear of the unknown). I flail and freak out until I make it to probably the last 100 yards - so there is no smooth swimming. I know that if I could practice in the open water, I would be okay... but I'm way too scared (even when I'm with my friends... they swim faster, so it's like I'm alone anyway and they are so competitive that they won't wait!) I would be okay with going slow, if I could just control it!!! I'm considering hypnotherapy??? Swim lessons??? I don't know... but I know I'm going to keep doing races (I've lost 40 pounds already!!! I can't give up because of a phobia!!!) Someone - please don't tell me how unlikely I am to get eaten by a shark...or to just keep trying... anyone have anything new or different??

• I did my first triathlon last year, I too had a tough time on the swim. I wasn't even at the first buoy before I was thinking of quitting. However I remember watching youtube videos stating, once you get to the first buoy you will be fine. So while I was trying to create excuses for quitting I made it to the first buoy. My breast stroke was now in full effect :D.

  My problem was not getting my head in the water, the cold and dark was holding me back. However I finished the swim, had a fun bike and had an awesome run.

  The key is to get together with a Tri group and as a group work with each other to get over the initial nerves and breathing issues... then to settle into a 'I don't give a crap mentality'. If you don't survive the swim how do get to show how good you are on the bike and run.

  I am redoing that race, and I WILL do the swim properly because if I do it right, then who knows how much closer to the leader would I be..

  Practise practise practise and experience...

  If the pro's can do it then we can too!!!

  S

• i did my first triathlon this weekend. i just started swimming about two months ago, but i was doing very well. i wasn't fast, but my times for 600 meters were not bad for a beginner, and i felt really comfortable in the water. i had no open water practice though because there are way too many alligators in our lakes! still, i wasn't concerned. i had no fear, except laughingly about possible gators. so i jumped in the water with great expectations and no fear. God was i surprised when i got about 50 meters out and had to stop. my spotting started by spotting the kayaks. then i turned around and looked to the shore. it would be embarrassing enough not to be able to do it, but even more embarrassing to have to be rescued, so i briefly considered swimming back... well i tread water for a few more seconds and finally convinced myself to go forward. Breast stroke this time? head out of the water? oh my god. it was horrible. after a few strokes like that i convinced myself to go back to the breast stroke. i did that about 25 yards and panicked again. it went on and on. i finally finished. almost 25 minutes. The next day i signed up for another tri in one month. i can do it and i won't panic again! i am reading blogs like crazy and trying to pick up tips from other athletes.

• I have been swimming in Santa Monica Bay, CA for twenty years since moving here from Sydney, Australia. As a boy, I swam in shark infested Sydney harbor almost every day. Members of the Royal Fishing Yacht Club hauled out 15ft Tiger sharks and hung them up to be weighed every weekend. But in all that time I never saw a shark in the water. I see a lot of dolphins in Santa Monica Bay and they come pretty close when I swim but still no sharks. I swim 1 - 1.5 miles every day. I used to swim a couple of hundred yards out parallel to the shore but I have become more concerned about sharks especially since the attack in San Diego last year. Now I swim closer to shore.

  The reason I'm commenting to this is because just yesterday I was chased down by a seal. While I was swimming, head down and cruising, I felt something push against my feet. It didn't feel like kelp so I immediately looked below and behind me to see a large grey - spotted seal swim underneath me. Scared the #@$%* out of me at first until I realized it was a seal. It disappeared quickly and I thought that maybe it was just checking me out and wasn't interested. So I continued to swim. Moments later it came back and knocked into my legs from the side. I stopped and floated looking for it in the water. Twice more it came up from the depths to my feet and I kicked it away. I started to wade towards shore and it followed me staying within yards arms reach. It came to the surface several times to look at me. I looked back trying to figure out what it wanted. Then it dove back under the water. This continued until I reached shore and could stand. When the seal saw this it flipped its tail and dove under. I saw its head pop up a few times more further and further down the shore. After a while I started to swim again but in the opposite direction.

  I always thought that I would see shark before it would see me. But visibility was so low that it wasn't until the seal was just six feet away that I could make out what it was. The first nudge on my feet stopped my heart. You don't expect to be touched when you are swimming alone out in the ocean. In retrospect I think the seal was either just curious, a female thinking I was a larger male or a diver with scraps to feed it.

  I went back in again today. I love swimming in the ocean. I've spent my whole life swimming and sailing. So, its like getting back on the horse. There are others that swim out there in the bay. Much further out than me and early in the morning too. I think if you swim in a group you are better protected. It is a fearful place for sure. Most of it is in our heads though and much of that fear can be dispelled through research and scuba diving - to get a better look at what's actually down there. Overall, it's too beautiful and wild a place for me not to be in it. There's no choice.

• Hi Carol,

  You are welcome. Glad you can use it!
  Karen

• I just did my first triathlon today. The swim was so so so scary. I was afraid the whole time. I felt out of breath, and people were kicking me and hitting me with their arms. I signaled to the lifeguards that I was in trouble. I was breathing so hard, I felt out of breath. And I can swim in the pool for 30-45 minutes without stopping. The lifeguards were really encouraging and I swam from one bouy to the next, holding on for about 30 seconds to a minute before swiming the the next. I also turned over and did the backstroke. Once I talked myself out of quitting and into doing it, I was so happy to be done. But let's be real, the swim was aweful!!! But I do feel like I faced a fear. I'm not sure what it's going to be like next time, but I'm going to try again. This time, I will go out slower, and I'm going to do some open water training ahead of time (I'm lucky to live near the beach).

• Karen, That's good you found out about your fear before you did the triathlon. How did that turn out? I ended up finding out I couldn't swim in open water at a triathlon. But after flailing around in a panic attack for forty minutes I was able to swim and I made it with one minute before being DQ'ed!! Haha.. I guess that's one method to conquer the fear of dark water.