Note…you might also want to read this older post about Fear of Ocean Swimming.
A blog buddy who is doing her first tri at White Lake wrote to me saying…
Ok, are you ready for this, I swam today in Lake Gaston, the water was cool, but do able with the wetsuit, but I had a complete panic attack after i started and really couldn’t get my face in the water. What in the world. It kept taking my breath away and I just couldn’t relax. I made it to the turn around with some real talking with God and the other friend that was in the kayak who by the way talked me through the worst part. Once I turned around and I guess new I was heading home, I could take bout 5-6 strokes and then spot for a second or two and try to start over. Oh my g–! I feel completely unprepared now. I was so confident coming to the water today because of how successful I had been in the pool. Now I have doubts. My transition practice was fine, great actually. But the swim, whoooo weeee. I’m just not sure. I felt great once I got out, not cold or anything, it was just trying to get my face in and relax.
Any thoughts???
Thanks, T.
Yes, we start in waves. Each wave will be probably ~150 swimmers! It’s too late to train for this, but one of the things we’ve done at the lake swims is get in each others faces while swimming…ie., purposely bump into each other. You can also swim in a pool with kids and ask them to purposely bump into you while you do laps. That gets you used to the pack.
One thing you can do on race day is to wait 20-30 seconds and then start swimming. Letting everyone else go ahead of you is probably worth the few seconds lost if you are afraid of the pack.
l told her that it was great that she was practicing before her race, so that she didn’t experience that feeling for the first time DURING the race! And what she’s doing is just right – swim a few strokes, stop to get your bearings, then restart! Eventually it will get easier!
I also suggested that she swim breast stroke if she feels uncomfortable putting her face in the water. There’s no rule that says what stroke you have to swim in a triathlon – anything goes. I have even seen people doing backstroke! You are also allowed to hold onto the lifeguard boats and take a rest. As long as you don’t climb into the boat, you can continue your race.
I reminded her that the water in White Lake is much clearer than most lakes, which may make things feel easier than looking down into muddy water. That’s one reason White Lake is a popular race! Hopefully, those tips will help her feel better about next weekend. Sometimes just knowing that your fears are normal helps!
The fact is, it is normal to feel SCARED looking down into murky water and see nothing, and worse, imagine that maybe you see something. It took me a lot of open water swimming to get over that. And I still feel that way sometimes. Luckily, race day excitement prevents me from feeling that way during races.
The photos below clearly show why you feel panic swimming in open water, even if you are completely comfortable swimming in a pool. A picture is worth a thousand words, eh? (click to enlarge)
 Underwater shot at the Triangle Sportsplex pool in Hillsborough, NC. Crystal clear blue water with lane lines to follow! |
 Underwater shot at Eastlake in Chapel Hill. This is the lake I run to when I do my “six mile run to the lake and back”. I carried my underwater camera there this week, just to see what it would capture. Uh, not much! |
I did my first open water swim in my first triathlon, a sprint, back in fall of 09. It was tough and I almost panicked at the end, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
Then I did my second sprint this June, 2010 and my goggle strap broke about a minute before the start of my wave. My wife managed to fix it but by the time I got in, my pulse was up, my breath was ragged and I was already shaky. Then I got stuck behind some slow swimmers before the first turn and one kicked me in the face and knocked my goggles off. I grabbed the buoy and hung on to fix them, but that was it: I was panicking.
The lifeguard threw me a float, but it took me a good three minutes to calm down enough to continue. What should have been a sub-9 minute swim wound up being 12:30 and left me with a dread of going back in the open water.
I used to read comments like these and think “what a bunch of newbs!” Today I am completely humbled and I totally understand. Last weekend, I had a panic attack 100 metres into an Olympic swim. No breath. Tightness in the chest. Dizziness. Fear. All of it. I am a strong swimmer (was expecting 25 minutes) but this was a new feeling – after 5 Olympic distances and 2 Half Ironmans with no problem! I floated for a few minutes and then just swam breast for the remainder. Got out of the water disoriented and weak as a kitten at 36 minutes. Weird. I think it was the cold Canadian water, the congestion (I started over-kicking to get rid of a guy who kept grabbing my feet) and lack of open water prep. Probably over-confidence too. I am going to get out to cold water lakes more this summer, work on calming myself, do a more thorough pre-swim warmup, and experiment with sleeveless wetsuits. Good luck to all of you. I can now sympathize!
Thanks for telling your stories. I am training for my first 1/2 ironman coming up in two weeks. All the training in the pool cannot prepare you for the possible panic attacks that open water swims can bring. I have been in the open water twice now with two weeks to go before my first race. I get freaked out by anything touching me in the water so I need to learn to control my fears. Knowing I’m not alone really helps. My trainer tells me to get into my own head space and just relax. Get out of the way of the pack and try to stay off to the side. Just focus on finishing the swim and then you can pass people on the bike and run for the rest of the day. Good luck to everyone and don’t ever give in to this fear. It is just another demon that needs to be tamed to become an ironman.
Oddly enough, I am actually releived to read the stories posted here. I had my first practice in OW on Saturday, my first TRI is this coming weekend. I felt slightly nervous as I stood in the water, but nothing more anxious than when I stand at the start of a distance race. When I got going in the water, I completely panicked. I put my face in the water to start my swim, gasped for breath and took in water. I tried doing the breast stroke, but it seemed that every time I put my face in the water I freaked out and took in a big gulp of lake water. I tooughed it out for 500 meters and sadly asked to be taken out of the water. I was so disappointed in myself. I have never quit anything before. I thought my training would pull me through, but I just kept having mini panic attacks. Thank you all for sharing your stories.
I completed a couple of sprint and olympic triathlons two years ago and, after taking two years off, competed in another olympic triathlon yesterday. I had what could best be described as a panic attack about 200 meters into the swim. I was nervous and couldn’t catch my breath. I’m not a very strong swimmer but have no problem completing 1,600 meters in the pool and had never had this feeling when doing triathlons and training a couple of years ago.
Thanks to the folks who posted previous messages to this website, I now have a plan to prevent or overcome this in the future. First, unlike this year, I will make sure I get in a good amount of open water swim practice before the event. I failed to do that this year (assuming that it wouldn’t be a problem since I was doing well in the pool and had never had a problem in open water before). Second, if I experience the “panic” feeling again, I will keep in mind that I can just float or tread water until it passes. Third, I will have a back-up stroke to use if I can’t overcome the feeling. My time will suffer, but I’ll get through the event (it isn’t like I was going to win the thing anyways).
Thanks for the advice and good luck with your training and events.
I had a similar experience in a “practice” for an olympic distance race I will be doing in a few weeks.
First time in open water – swimming out and back in an arch shape with nothing good to sight – 1400m. Bad situation.
First 10-15 strokes were fine – then couldn’t catch my breath. Sounds like you all know the drill.
I floated on my back, caught my breath…flipped over and did a few strokes. Repeated this process several times.
I found treading water and looking around to get my bearings helped more than lying on my back feeling disoriented.
I noticed that I felt more panicky when I swallowed some water, or got out of my rhythm.
I got through the second half of the swim much easier after realizing I needed to relax and concentrate on my breathing and form. Staying in my rhythm was hard to do when I incorporated sighting into my breathing.
Rationalizing that I know how to swim well and swallow water all the time in the pool made me feel better.
Since sighting seemed to break up my rhythm, my plan is to practice that in the pool and then out in open water.
I think learning a proficient back up stroke is a great idea also – it can be kind of a mental security blanket.
We have trained for it – we can do it – its ALL mental at that point and thats what I kept reminding myself and finished decently.
I had the same experience. I did my 1st tri this weekend and it was a bad expereince. My first 50 meters was great until (1) I had to pass someone and (2) someone had 2 pass me. I completely freaked out! I also had to do the breast to get going. I also could not put my face in the water. Sooooo disappointed!
I just finished my third mini tri yesterday and my swim leg is getting worse! I want to do the full distance but freak out over the swim. In the pool I’m fine. I can swim 1.5/2kms non-stop freestyle and walk out feeling great. Yesterday, in the race, I couldn’t do one stroke of freestyle, that’s right, not ONE stroke; I ended up breaststroking the whole way. Whenever I put my face in the water I just feel claustrophobic and panic. I feel like I have no air in me. I’m going to try a few things to overcome it. 1. Swim without goggles and close eyes when head in water and only open when breathing to side. Goggles allow you to see underwater which is okay in a pool but freaky in a brown muddy river. 2. Stay well away from the pack! 3. Swim easy, concentrating on breathing not on all the confusion. Time will tell if it works!
I appreciate reading about others’ experiences. I am a real newbie, but I really love it and want to stick with it.
I feel devasasted today, but not alone as I read all of this. I had my first TRI this am, and could not finish the swim. I am a really strong pool swimmer, and this was my first time in open water – the Gulf of Mexico – the water was calm and perfect, but I could not breathe, my wet suit felt like it was too tight in my chest and I kept having coughing fits in the water (I am on antibiotics and decongestents for bronchitis and strep throat.) When I came out of the water, I felt completely worn and exhausted, and could do no more. I am supposed to do my first olympic tri in a few weeks (in Tampa Bay) but now I am scared. I SO want to do this!!!! Maybe I should wait till my bronchitis is better?? Or maybe that had nothing to do with it?? Maybe I just panicked? Maybe it was both. I feel crushed.
Just finished my first open water swim (1,500 Meter race). I have been swimming between 1,000 – 2,000 meters in a pool a couple times/week for about a year. I am so relaxed in a swimming pool, that I can otentimes go 5 strokes per breath with no problem. Five minutes into my first open water swim and I completely panicked. Yikes, what an aweful feeling. Ended up swimming 90% of the race on my back … and then left calf cramped with about 300 meters to go. Long story, short … I’m going to get some professional training in open water for a few months before going for an open water Sprint or Olympic. Best of luck to all of you.
I just finished the Nation’s Triathlon (Olympic) in DC yesterday. I have trained in open water (flat and choppy) swimming 1500m or more with ease. I wear a HR Monitor and my normal HR is 135-140 for swims (aerobic pace). Yesterday I started out fine for about 7 minutes and then something changed – I may have gotten taken in some water, someone kicked me, etc… and I completely blew up!! It was impossible to breathe… like others describe here… panic feeling and unable to catch my breath… unable to return to a smoothe stroke/rhythm. I flipped onto my back and did backstroke for almost the entire remainder of the swim (1200 meters). It was a disaster! When I look at the HR data I spiked right up to 160 bpm and at one point was at 168bpm… way to high for a sustained aerobic swim.
I don’t know what caused this. It happened once in a Sprint as well but with that shorter distance it wasn’t so devastating. After this one I felt really tired and struggled through the rest of the day (oh, I had a blowout on the bike too… rode in a herniated tire!!).
Any advice on how to recover from this type of blowup and return to normal pace swim? I would like to do longer distance but not unless I can get out of these freakouts. Thank you.