Open Water Swim

Tonight I attended my first open water swim with a triathlon training group. It was in a small questionable looking lake...being from Michigan I would call the "lake" a large pond. We were forewarned that we would be covered in a brown film after swimming from the cedar tree runoff in the water. Nice. I'm sure any accidental consumption of that water will cause some nice dysentery.

People trickled in during the start time but I would say there were at least 40 people that attended. I was a little anxious about the event. I started getting suited up and pretending I had done this 100 times before. I heard a lot of people talking that sounded like this was their first open water swim and I began to relax. I saw some people that are the typical triathlete that I envision...thin, buff, etc...but then I saw some that made me look fairly fit and thin so I relaxed some more.

Brad and the girls came with me to have a picnic dinner and play on the playground while I swam. They were pretty curious about all the people in the funny black suites. I got in the dark water and got acclimated. The water was cool but not bad. The air temperature was about 15 below normal for this time of year so it was only in the upper 60's which wasn't motivating.

I flopped around in my wet suite a little trying to get used to it and then I hesitatingly started out on the course. The wetsuit provides buoyancy which is nice in some aspects but it was a strange sensation at the same time. While swimming it feels like someone is lifting your butt up like a marionette yet your torso feels pushed down into the water...and the rubber turtleneck feeling also makes lifting your head to spot ahead of you a challenge. Overall my suit fit well and felt good after the initial adjustment period...but a lot different then being in a pool.

The hardest and most intimidating thing was the dark water and the inability to barely even see my hand when it was in the water. Every time I put my face in the water I had a sense of panic. It took me awhile to calm my breathing down and get into some type of rhythm. My swimming skills seemed to be a little above average. I was definitely passed by some but I also did my share of passing people. I swam a mile and felt like I could have gone farther physically but mentally I was a little tired of fighting my anxiety and was ready to call it quits.

I'm thankful I took the time to go to this swim and get my nerves out about the open water. I never really had any concerns about the deep water, it was probably more about what was in the water.