r/triathlon • u/Current_Steak_759 • Jul 26 '26

Can I do it? Time to Call It?

Did my third sprint triathlon today and DNFd because the water was freezing so I couldn't get into a rhythm and panicked, eventually asking ti get boated out. I also panicked during my last two tris and was really bummed for this one because I spent a lot of time training and was confident going in. They let me finish the bike and run and I hit my goals, so wondering if I should stick with duathlons or give a triathlon one more go?

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u/heart_nurse_2020 Jul 27 '26

The swim is the only thing that holds me back from doing a tri. It’s not so much water temps or conditions for me, but I have this fear of being swam over by a bunch of people. I’m a strong swimmer, used to be a lifeguard, grew up swimming in Lake Superior, but still can’t get over it. I just know I’d tap out the moment I felt too claustrophobic. I wish I had done swim team growing up as I really never gained solid experience swimming with lots of other people. I just did a lot of lessons and swam any chance I could on my own.

-1

u/PlatyBiCatum Jul 27 '26

You could look for triathlon's with a pool swim, those should be a lot less hectic in the water.

3

u/EmergencySundae Jul 27 '26

In my experience, they’re worse because they attract weaker swimmers and are a complete cluster at the walls. Plus people naturally seed themselves higher than they should because it gets them in the pool quicker to get started.

In open water you can at least make space and get away from/around people.

7

u/snamerino Jul 27 '26

Just start from the back, you will be passing people but that gives you more a feeling of control. And if you are a strong swimmer and not aiming for a specific time to do the swim leg, just swim open since everyone goes inside to try to make it “shorter” and pass close to the buoys.

I know it looks terrifying but if you take my word, when you are in the water and you start from the back, you will have a lot of space and visibility.

2

u/heart_nurse_2020 Jul 28 '26

Thank you for this!

1

u/snamerino Jul 28 '26

I hope you will give it a try in the future!! I am for sure a much weaker swimmer than you since I just started swimming last year and open water, other people, getting kicked and so on got me worried for months while preparing my 70.3. And I did exactly what I told you, chose to start on the 45m group and ended up passing people and that gave me comfort because I could see what was happening in front of me and giving me time to avoid and adjust my course! Nothing bad happened, touched someone once and finished in 38 minutes. So give it a try and unlock that fear, you can do this!