How to Overcome Open Water Swim Fear (And Do Your First Triathlon!)

If open water freaks you out—you’re not alone. It’s one of the biggest reasons people avoid triathlon altogether. In this episode, Coach Chris takes you behind the scenes of what it really takes to feel calm, confident, and in control during your swim. 

You’ll discover:

• How to figure out what’s actually triggering your anxiety so you can stop guessing and start addressing it
• How to stay calm (and moving forward) even when you need to take a break mid-swim
• How to stop zigzagging and start swimming straight—no matter how choppy the water is
• How to prevent that dreaded heart rate spike right at the start of your swim
• How to get comfortable in your wetsuit before it messes with your race day
• How to mentally break down long courses so they don’t feel overwhelming
• How to place yourself in the pack for the most comfortable swim experience
• How to safely build confidence by using the support that’s already there for you

Want a handy tip sheet to reinforce these tools? Grab our free Open Water Swim Tips PDF at theenduranceedge.com/freebies

If you're local, join us for our weekly open water swim workouts at Jordan Lake and Falls Lake, including beginner only swims as well as intermediate/advanced swims. 

Chapters

• 0:52 Welcome and Introduction
• 1:11 Identifying Your Specific Anxieties
• 1:54 Essential Skills for Open Water
• 3:46 Wetsuit Tips and Considerations
• 5:26 Race Day Strategies
• 9:17 Final Encouragement and Resources

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:27

Welcome back to the Find your Edge podcast. I am so glad you're here. This is Coach Chris, and we are talking about one of my favorite topics today, and that is conquering open water swim anxiety. In fact, this is one of the top reasons why people don't get into triathlon is because open water can be scary. So let's start off with a little bit of self-reflection.

Speaker 0: 0:51

What is it about open water that brings you anxiety? Maybe even write them down, make yourself a list. Is it that you don't know how to swim? Is it that you're afraid of water? Is it that there's something potentially living in the water? Is it that you can't see the black line on the bottom of the pool? Or that maybe you can't touch the bottom if you needed to? Or maybe that it's cold? There could be any number of reasons that potentially bring you anxiety.

Speaker 0: 1:16

Also, whether you're someone who has practically lived in the pool as a kid to someone who was brand new to swimming, give yourself permission to be a novice. This is just different. So, first and foremost, if you don't know how to swim, that's step one. You got to learn how to swim before you get in the open water. So practice, practice, practice. Get those skills that you need in water and bring them to the water because they're going to be really, really important. Plus learning or practicing a safety stroke like breaststroke, backstroke, side stroke or even elementary backstroke. I personally use breaststroke. It's one of my favorites because I can look up, but for whatever reason, a lot of people just don't quite get the timing right with breaststroke and it just doesn't quite work for them. So side stroke or backstroke is a little bit better. A little side note about backstroke if that is your choice of stroke, which is totally fine, especially if you're if you're panicked, you might just need to lie on your back, maybe do a little bit of elementary backstroke. If you are going to be backstroking for an extended period of time, you are likely to go off course. It is partly the job of the swim personnel to keep you on track, but it also is your job to make sure that you are swimming in the right direction. So just a little note on that of giving yourself many opportunities, many different skill sets, in order to make sure that you can be comfortable both in the pool and in the open water.

Speaker 0: 2:44

Another skill that you will need to know is learning how to sight. In fact we've got a video on it I will attach to this. But it is not just about looking forward and actually seeing where you're going, but it's about being aware of all your surroundings, so noticing things that otherwise, in the pool, you wouldn't even care about right. You might need to be sighting a rock wall along one side, or on the other side you'll notice that there's a shoreline, or houses or certain types of trees. So just being aware of your surroundings is all about keeping you going in the right direction and learning how to site.

Speaker 0: 3:20

Another issue that I see commonly increasing people's anxiety is that they just don't warm up well on land prior or in the water prior to getting into open water, and then their heart rate spikes and then they feel like they can't breathe and then it's just kind of a disaster. And this typically happens within the first five minutes or within the first 200 yards, whether it be in a race or in any sort of practice situation. So be sure you create yourself a little bit of a warm-up ritual moving your shoulders, moving your neck, making sure that you take a couple of deep breaths. Maybe it's doing some squats or burpees, so that you're well warmed up and your heart rate doesn't spike, leaving you gasping for air. Similarly, get the sensory experience of the water before you just jump right in. Water might taste or feel a little bit different. It might be salty, it might be, and with that salt, with that salinity, you might be a little bit more buoyant or you may not have as much buoyancy. So it is important to get in the water, splash some water on your face and just sort of experience it a little bit. If you're in a wetsuit which we'll talk more about that here in a moment I know on race day you may not always have the opportunity to get in the water, but it is at least important to try to splash a little bit of water on your face and get that sensory experience prior to starting your swim.

Speaker 0: 4:44

About wetsuits, so depending on where you live and whether you need one, it is important to practice with it if you are going to be racing in it and this doesn't mean, oh, I just put it on and then I took it off and then on race day I just got in the water. We hear time and time again that that is the situation and then people have anxiety once they hit the water. Try to practice in your wetsuit in the pool, if you can, especially if the manufacturer allows it. It just feels different. Your center of buoyancy is a little bit different. So getting the sense of how your body is in the pool with a wetsuit on is important to practice. Plus, when else are you wearing a giant suit of rubber that is very snug around your diaphragm, your lungs and your neck? Not often right. So that is different when you don't necessarily have to work to inhale, when you don't have a wetsuit or when you just have a regular swimsuit on. Now you're having to spend a little bit of effort to inhale, sort of pushing against that wetsuit feel, and then just having something around your neck. Now, that being said, your wetsuit needs to fit properly. So it is important that you measure yourself and use the manufacturer's suggestion and, if you can go, try one on.

Speaker 0: 6:01

So let's keep rolling on with race day, open water, swim anxiety. So if you feel those race nerves, it is important to take some deep breaths, whether you are on land prior to getting in the water or if you have to stop and hang on to a paddleboard or a kayak and just take some deep breaths. I have many a time been somebody on that paddleboard and somebody comes up to me and they are hyperventilating. So, just like you've probably seen, people breathe into a paper bag I don't have any paper bags there, but I'm at least there to talk you through. Okay, exhale, exhale, so emphasizing those longer exhalations to lower that heart rate and to stimulate that parasympathetic nervous system. Some people may experience some seasickness. So if that is the case, hopefully you'll know prior to race day. There are earplugs that can definitely help. Some ginger candies or chews are another great tip that you can try. I have had people who have also used a little bit of Tums, but again, these are things just like nothing new on race day. These are things that are good to try prior to race day.

Speaker 0: 7:09

Another important tip to ease your open water swim anxiety is knowing the course for race day and breaking it down into reasonable chunks, like, okay, I'm just going to focus on this, I'm getting from here to this buoy or knowing what colors you need to get to so that you can break it down into reasonable chunks. When you're standing on land looking at an open water swim course, it can feel incredibly daunting versus standing on the pool deck and you see 25 yards or you see 50 meters, you see the end, right, it's no big deal. Well, when you stand there and you see a 1.2 mile swim, it just can look a little daunting. So, just like what you might do on the run, just take it step by step, break it down into those reasonable chunks, do a little bit of strategizing to knowing your ability and being realistic and honest about your ability as a swimmer. So if you're a weaker swimmer and you just don't feel comfortable being around all of those other swimmers, don't worry about it. Let the gun go off and just kind of take up the back or go slightly to the outside.

Speaker 0: 8:15

Also, maybe have a conversation with your kayakers or paddleboarders beforehand and just say hey, can you keep an eye out for me? I'm going to be looking for you too. There's no guarantee that they're going to exactly be there for you, but it at least just gives you a little bit of easing that anxiety. Of course, that is what we were talking about after all, of just knowing that people are looking out for you. Also, as it relates to that with strategy, is knowing whether you're going to be inside or outside, knowing which side you tend to breathe on. For example, my stronger side is breathing to my right, so if I can strategically put myself in a position where I can sight by looking to my right and not be as worried about breathing to the left, I'm going to try to do that. So know which side you breathe on. If you do at any point need some help again, you can flip on your back. You can use that alternate stroke and also, don't be ashamed to use a kayak or a paddleboard to just take a break. Have a conversation, breathe. Maybe you've got sort of a logistical issue or like a gear issue. Maybe you need to adjust your goggles, or maybe the zipper on your wetsuit isn't working. They'll help you out, so don't be ashamed to use that either.

Speaker 0: 9:29

Lastly, have fun. Celebrate your ability to go after this thing and to really challenge yourself. It is again. The juice is totally worth the squeeze. You guys, you definitely need to try it. It is hard, it is exciting and me not coming from a background in swimming, this is probably one of my favorite things in triathlon is open water swims. They are a blast. So good luck in trying all of these different things and challenging yourself. I truly appreciate you for listening and hopefully you weren't writing too quickly, because we have all this in a little tip sheet and you can download it from our website for free. The link will be in the show notes or on our website, theenduranceedgecom under podcast, where you can download that straight from there. All right, thanks again for listening. Good luck in all of your adventures. You got this.