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 had an almost identical experience to the post below. Wanted to quit less than three minutes into the swim. But I somehow managed to talk myself out of it. Was my first tri (sprint distance) and it really left me defeated. Didn’t practice any open water swims and I regret it as swimming is my weakest event. The stress of the panic attack lasted through the entire race as I was tense, muscles aching from just trying any which way to finish the swim. Hate that feeling of doubt where I thought, I’m just going to stick to running from now on. But I want to keep trying, thank you for posting your experiences!!
I just did my first sprint tri and totally freaked. I didn’t listen to people warning me about this. The wetsuit felt tight, couldn’t get enough air, getting kicked and grabbed and couldn’t calm down to put my face in the water. Plus, it drained me for the rest of the tri. My run was slow but I cramped up. I should’ve done some open swims and will if I ever do this again. It was so bad I think I may stay with running! Although I hope not, I did better on the bike than I thought and if I could get comfortable with the swim I might feel better about my times, never panicked like that before, gosh I used to surf all the time in a full suit in the winter. Glad to know I’m not alone.
@Susan – I can relate to your situation. Last year I did three triathlons; panicked during the swim in the first two and dropped out of the swim in the third. This year I did one triathlon and had a great swim, even did a negative split. I spent A LOT of time in the lake preparing. I started by simply standing in the water, bending at the waist so my head was in position to rotate in and out of the water to model the motion used to breathe. I had trouble breathing out under water and spending several minutes “warming up” that way helped my confidence.
I also attended a clinic where we practiced a mass start. It really helped to be in a small group with no pressure or high expectations, like on race day. After that clinic I went back to the lake and practiced my start into the water AND exiting the water. I even practiced being fast and intense into the water, swimming about 50-75 yds, then settling into my rhythm. Understanding how YOU handle going from chaos and panic to calm and rhythm before you even step into the water can make a big difference.
As for the pool, I tried to visualize the lake; picturing the murky water and even small fish swimming by me. My confidence grew when I started being more comfortable picturing the lake while being in the pool instead of needing to picture the pool while being in the lake.
Best of luck to you as you prepare. Let us all know how well you do!
Steve
Hello all. I just googled “overcoming panic in open water.” I am in a desperate state! My first tri (Olympic distance) is in 13 days and I have now done 3 open water swims to prepare. Let me say that I can swim a mile in the pool and it is very relaxed and FINE.
I have gone to a sports psychologist. I have meditated and prayed and talked positive things in the water. But every time I go in, I get this short of breath feeling, I HAVE to flip on my back or else if worse comes to worse hang on a kayak (humiliating) until I get my breath again. It is a raggedy, wheezy, death rattle (bronchospasm??) kind of strangled breath. I really feel like I am dying. By the time I get through tons of back floating and trying to CALM the hell down, everyone else is out of the water. This is so upsetting to me. I KNOW I can do it physically but somehow my mind has got me so messed up. I’d appreciate any suggestions.
I just finished my first tri today. I had practiced swimming more than anything else, and was up to 60 laps in 40 minutes. The problem I had today at the tri, was that I couldn’t catch my breath during the lake swim. I also gulped a mouthful of yucky lake water. I ended up doing breast stroke with my head above the water for most of the race, since I couldn’t seem to get enough air. I would like to know why this happened to me? Does anyone know? And, I would love to learn how to avoid it from happening in the future. The swim should not have been a problem for me. Had it not been for the breath issue, I think I might have enjoyed it. Thanks!
I wanted to add a few comments to my earlier post about my game plan for my sprint tri next weekend. I’m going to wear clear not tinted anti-fog goggles, even though sun-glare may be an issue, it’s better than feeling like I’m swimming in the dark.
Also, I’m going to get more wetsuit practice; I’m going to swim today in the pool with the wetsuit on so I can get a better feel for it. If I just can’t tolerate swimming with it, then I’ll do the race with just the trisuit. I have never liked any swim suits that are too tight around my shoulders, so it makes sense that a wetsuit zippered up the back of my neck wouldn’t give me warm fuzzies.
Also, I remember the taste of the lake water seemed to add to my panic for some reason; I’m going to make sure to go ahead and taste some, even get a good gulp of it prior to the start of the race. It’s not a bad taste, bland and without the familiar chlorine, just very different from pool water. Since the race is on Sunday, I have plans for another open water camp on Saturday and this time I will make myself swim that entire course at least twice so that my freaky-deaky issues will come out of the closet and hopefully be conquered! Water is my friend and I won’t let myself feel betrayed; I’m still a strong swimmer. I’m pretty sure that with some equipment modification/tweaks as described, things will be much better.