First open water swim... Tips/Tricks?

[TriHard]

I'm hardly a competent/committed swimmer in the pool... but somehow have been cajouled/peer pressured into joining a OWS session tomorrow night hosted by a local Tri club.

Baptism of fire as swimming is my nemesis, and I've never had a coached swimming session since primary school, let alone one while trying to get to grips with swimming outdoors with no chance to cling on to the end and sneak a few extra breaths!

Really quite worried tbh - any hints/tips/tricks?

You need a wetsuit. It will be cold. And some king of light, a head torch or something you can strap to you goggles.
Is it a lake or open sea?

Stay parallel to the shore and if you are not a competent swimmer, stay where you can stand. Swimming against current and waves with cold water splashing in your face requires a lot of energy.
How long/far can you swim? I wouldn't do an open water swim session unless I was able to swim easily 1k in a pool. I don't think a tri Club would able a soft training session. Swimming in a group is also more difficult, you can receive unwanted (and wanted during real traces) kicks or punches. It can also be confusing because you have the waves and lots of arms and legs moving water around you. You need to learn to breath in the bow wave with the head low, otherwise you might receive a big gulp of water instead of air and start chocking.

If you are not competent or confident in a pool, I think you might want to wait a month, meanwhile train hard, and in a month, temperature will be higher.

You are putting your safety at risk and the one of the person who might come to your help. And I am telling you this as a certified beach lifeguard

Doesn't sound like a good plan. Maybe train in the pool for a little while first.

I wouldn't be doing this!

You really need to be a very competent swimmer before you venture into open water.

Thanks all for your input, it's been good to read. I'm probably more competent than I have portrayed, but my confidence is lacking! And I'm very aware that whilst friends/acquaintances are keen to 'jolly' me along with their promises that 'it will all be fine' etc etc, I'll be a long time trying to put right a bad first experience.

I've bought a wetsuit and will go along tonight, it's the club's first open water session (in a lake) and I think there will be a handful of us that are new to it. I've enquired a bit further as to the format for tonight and they plan to cover acclimatisation, sighting etc as a starting point, so I think I will join in for that and then politely withdraw once the 'real' training session starts. It will get me in the water but hopefully not push me past my comfort zone.
And more pool swims in the mean time!

Lakes will be pretty warm now, my local is 20 degrees. A wet suit is still a good idea if you are not experienced though and does help you to float.

I swim in open water all year round (sea and lake) and I love it, but I would not encourage anyone who wasn't a confident swimmer to try it, especially at night.

Our local lakes are 19-20 degrees at the moment, so its not too much of a shock tbh.
Go in up to your thighs, then sink down. Splash water on your face, then lean back so your neck gets wet. Sort your goggles out while you concentrate on slow controlled breathing. Then put your face in the water so you get over the thing about cold water on your face.
Then go for a little swim, just thinking about nice controlled breathing and not using your legs a lot. If you breathe every 3 strokes, sight every 5 by just tilting your head up so your eyes are just above the surface as a hand goes into the water.
Main thing is just staying calm - murky or weedy water does funny things to the deep, caveman bits of your brain.

I love OWS, and the sessions I go to are super friendly, and theres always someone to swim alongside you if you are new. Its lake night for me too

Don't forget to put bodyglide or other wetsuit lube on your neck, going right up into your hairline. Otherwise you can look like you have carpet burns on your neck which isn't a good look

Paint your fingernails a reeeally bright colour! Gives you something to focus on in the murky water
Get some open water goggles because pool ones don't have enough peripheral vision
Wade in and then splash the water on your face, and take it slowly when you first get in
It is totally normal for your chest to feel tight and for it to be difficult to breathe deeply for the first few minutes, but it will pass

It is also worth getting some lessons on how to sight/swim towards the correct buoy.
It isn't difficult, you just have to allow yourself a fraction of looking straight ahead when you breathe so you don't head of course
It is harder to swim in a straight line without lanes or pool tiles to guide you...

How did it go?

Hello!
Sorry for the late update - went straight from work last night (frantically reading the comments posted on this thread whilst sat at traffic lights!) and didn't get home, exhausted, until 10pm. And then suddenly it's time to get up and start the work day treadmill again - there's gotta be more to life than this?!?!

So.... I survived!!! Super, super proud of myself for getting on and doing it, to the point where I may have had a tear or two when I clambered out
Basically, got stitched up on the promise of other novices, pull buoys, dedicated coach etc etc. Got there and I was the only newbie, and the pull buoys which had been ordered were yet to be delivered. Decided I would have a go anyway as felt sure that I wouldn't push myself to the point of causing trouble for myself, as I knew I'd stop and have a breather before I got overly flustered/out of sync with breathing/whatever.
Set off well, lagging quietly behind the group of swimmers, and stuck with them for quite a while before my lack of swim fitness/stamina started to show and I needed to take a breather. One of the chaps who had turned up for a 'serious' training session dropped back to get me, and from then on dedicated his entire swim to staying with me, helping me find a rhythm, teaching me about sighting and generally being beyond patient with me. So, while I was rather let down by the Tri club, I couldn't have asked for better tuition whilst in the water, thanks to a very kind individual.
In summary - swam further than I've ever swum before, love my wetsuit, made new friends, and am back there again next week! The bug has bitten! too many sports, not enough time

Thanks all for the advice I received yesterday!

Glad to hear it went well! Lovely looking lake too.

Come and join us on the Swimming for Fitness thread where we chat about swimming lots

It was very (very!) weedy on entry to just past the island, but in a way that was good as it was shallow there (chest deep) and getting past the weeds really took the pressure off me having to just get in and swim, so I had time to relax and make monster from the deep jokes while getting wrapped up in weeds, before I could even start to worry about the swim! Once we were out past that we had a circuit in the top end of the lake which was clear of any weeds. Water was pretty murky, I think mostly because of the torrential rain we'd had for a couple of days previous, so not much to see. You were right about the caveman bit of my brain, the only times I wanted to panic were when I could see vague shapes beneath me. Obviously just fish, but I wasn't feeling quite so logical at the time!!

I'll come on over to the swimming thread, I do lurk on there from time to time but I think I need to start participating.

Glad you had a good time. I love wild swimming and would consider joining an OWS club but don't have the time for it right now. Bit 'off' of the club though - seemed that they'd forgotten about you.
I wonder if it is a 'serious' club geared mostly around competitive swimmers and triatheletes rather than new people and those in it for OWS?

GeekLove - yes, turns out it is a reasonably competitive tri club - upon further investigation last night (when I actually got brave enough to chat ) our little swimming group is comprised of Ironmen, and an ex Team GBR member, as well as the more 'normal' members. But, had I have known originally, there is NO WAY I would have turned up!

Last night went loads better though, and my swim fitness is already on the up. Super sore in my shoulders/lats/back today though!

I would love to do OWS but I'm in the West Mids a good 40 min drive from any organized sites - weekends aren't an option since that's family time. More a wild swimmer myself.
Glad you had a good time though - hope that there are more 'normal' people who are more chilled about it. I would never do it competitively or as a triathelete - just not my thing.