Swim craziness

This morning at swim practice we did "triathlon specific drills". It was quite the experience for me so I want to tell you all about it before the impressions fade.

First we practiced sighting, which I am getting kind of comfortable with. I get tired more quickly when I sight, but it doesn't make me nervous and I can actually get a pretty good look ahead of me.

Then the coaches took the lane markers out, in order to encourage more sighting (necessary in order to avoid running into people swimming in adjacent lanes). The real challenge was the choppy water that instantly appeared. It was the choppiest water I ever swam in, and I needed to rest a little between laps, but it went ok. I learned that I can still breathe in choppy water.

Next we all crowded into the middle of the pool and swam together from end to end. Being very slow, I was obviously at the back, so I didn't experience much of the contact that others did. I was still wary of being kicked by the people in front of me.

The real fun began with a 10 minute swim around the perimeter of the pool. I started out at the back, but was soon being passed. I had a really hard time figuring out how to turn the corners. Admittedly, with the chop and the people, I had zero presence of mind left to figure it out. It wasn't long before I forgot most of what I know about how to swim.

It could have been worse, though. I didn't die, I only grabbed the side of the pool once, and I managed to somewhat recover from my panic near the end of the swim.

Practice ended with a fun little game in which everyone got a kickboard and used it to make big foamy waves that we all got to (were made to) swim through, one by one. I would have been horrified, but my nerves were already numb.

Of course, all of this was great practice. From what I hear, the start of a triathlon swim is a crazy place to be. But although I could have done worse, I can't say that I met the challenges successfully and feel prepared for anything that may happen to me in the river in Philadelphia. Which has led me to wonder - how am I going to handle the river in Philadelphia? So far my plan is to become a super-sighter so I can nicely follow the very outer edge of the course where no one else wants to swim ...