First Olympic Triathlon: Post 2 - Terror on the Low Seas

The swim started, or rather the wading before the swim started. For a little bit I tried out the running method that the guy I took swim lessons from showed me (kick your leg sideways over the water like you are running hurdles). It made for faster running but I splashed a lot and felt silly since no one else was doing it. So I went back to trudging like everyone else. I'm a follower.

I figured it was time to dive in and swim. I got a couple strokes in but I noticed that the guy running next to me was passing me. So, I got back up and ran for a bit more before diving back in.

Before the race, I had decided that I would just breath every two strokes (and keep it on my right side). I just wanted to keep my breath and push through the distance. Just about 20 strokes in I started to have trouble with my air. I felt like I wasn't getting enough oxygen even though I was breathing after every 2 strokes.

I wanted to swim through it, hoping that I would find a good rhythm but then I really started to panic. There was too much water ahead of me for me to survive like that.
I tried to roll over on my back to catch my breath and got splashed in my face. This normally wouldn't have been that bad but the wet suit doesn't bend very well at the waist. It kinda puts you into a good posture position which when on your back, pushes your upper body back towards the water. Even though I knew that I would still be able to hold my face out of the water, it felt like the suit was trying to pull me under. Couple that with the tightness of the wet suit (relative to no wet suit) which feels very constrictive when panicking and I was sure that I wasn't going to make it the full 1.5K. I couldn't think of anything other than not being able to breath.

While treading water, I felt for the bottom to hopefully stand up but I was too far out. I looked for a rescue boat but there were no race officials in sight (which without my glasses really isn't that far). Had I seen a boat, I'm pretty sure I would have flagged it down to pick me up.

Making the decision to go back to shore, I flipped on my back and pointed myself toward the beach. I thought "Arial will understand" (which is probably true, she is a very understanding person). My next thought though was how much effort we had taken to get to this point. Not only the cost of the tri and the travel expenses but all of the training. If I quit, I probably wouldn't try another Olympic again.

I really wanted to continue, but wasn't in any shape to do it. So, I undid my collar to give my neck some space, flipped on my back pointed in the correct direction and tried to relax. It wasn't easy but I began to regain control over my breathing. Then, I thought that I might as well move toward the goal and started slowly using my arms. After a little bit, I added some kicking to the mix.

By this point, I was feeling better. The open collar helped me so that I wasn't feeling as constricted and using my muscles was helped my feel like I had a little bit of control over the situation. I rolled over and started to crawl. This time it felt better and I felt like I was getting enough air.

When I looked up to see if anyone was even close to me, most of the men were gone. There were a couple stragglers that weren't too far ahead. One of them even looked like he had been holding onto a buoy (but I really can't be sure because my vision is not that good without my glasses). That made me feel a little less alone (even if it was just a trick of my eyesight).

A very short time after, I saw the women start behind me. Most of them passed me in short order but at least I was going forward and feeling okay. I didn't have to rest on my back for the remainder (mostly crawl but a little bit breast stroke) and I finished the swim in a much better time that I had hoped going in (mostly because of the wet suit) even with the delay of almost quitting.

mwz