Pool swims felt like drowning before I found open water

Back in 2019 when I first started training for my first sprint tri, I could barely make it 25 meters without gasping. I would do all my swims at the local YMCA pool in Portland, staring at the black line, convincing myself I was getting better. Then I went to my first open water practice at Sauvie Island and nearly had a panic attack in the first 5 minutes. The murky water, the cold shock, the total lack of walls to grab onto, it was a completely different animal. Now I actually prefer open water over pool swimming because the current keeps me honest and I don't have to flip turn. But I still get nervous every time I wade in past my waist, that feeling never really goes away. Has anybody else found that open water swimming changes your breathing rhythm in a way pool laps never prepare you for?

2 comments

2 Comments

rivera.holly10d ago

Oh yeah, absolutely. I had the exact same thing happen to me when I switched from pool to open water. I thought I was a decent swimmer doing those endless laps staring at tiles, then my first lake swim left me gasping like a fish out of water. The breathing rhythm is totally different in open water, you can't just breathe every third stroke on your right side every time. You have to breathe when the waves let you, sometimes on the left, sometimes holding your breath through a splash. That unpredictability never really goes away, it just gets easier to handle. I still get that jolt of panic when the water is murky and cold, but now I actually crave it more than the pool because it feels real.

davis.dakota10d ago

Man, that lake water felt alive. Nothing like the sanitized silence of a pool.