Second Open Water Swim

Last night I attempted another open water swim in anticipation of my upcoming triathlon. While I am hesitant to say it went well, I will say that the experience was much better than swimming in Cedar Lake. I drove up to Clear Lake, MN with my friend, Phillip, and after surviving torrential downpours and flash flooding in Maple Grove, we finally it there around 7:30 pm. The section of the lake we were swimming was .4 mile, and I thought once we swam that leg, we would have a leisurely break on the beach and then swim back. Just kidding. Because once you swim out the .4 mile across the lake, there isn't a beach or place to exit. So we just had to turn around and swim back immediately. It felt like we had been swimming forever, and for one of the first times in my life, the thought of drowning briefly crossed my mind. Then Phillip reminded me that we had only been swimming for 17 minutes, and I realized I was being a HUGE baby and started swimming again.

While I was swimming, I tried practicing sighting, which involves turning your head forward to see where you are on the course, as you take a breath. It is definitely a practiced skill, but I was happy to try it out in open water, because going off course means being in the water longer, and I would very much prefer to be in the lake the shortest amount of time as possible. As I was swimming back to the beach on the second leg of the swim, I found myself thinking how great it would be to be a dolphin and have sonar. While this lake was clearer than Cedar Lake, I still could not see anything in front of me while my face was in the water, and I was slightly, read majorly, fearful of swimming directly into a sunken tree or a school of piranhas. I definitely felt more confident when I was swimming beside Phillip, which gives me hope that during the race, I will actually seek comfort in the fact that swimmers are close to me, rather than claustrophobia, which I have been anticipating feeling. Plus, all that splashing from others will drive away any creatures in the lake, right?