Originally Posted by
merlinextraligh
Swimming is the key. It's by far the most technique dependent of the 3 disciplines. And swimming with a pack in open water is way different than swimming in a pool.
Good points, but remember that swimming is by far the smallest portion of most triathlon. For a sprint that takes 1:20 or so, the swim portion will be much less than 10 minutes (400 yds or so). Even for an age grouper on a 6+hour finish to a 70.3, the swim is less than an hour of it.
For these reasons, and since I walk rather than run, I like the Olympic distance and the 1500m swim. But I'm a pretty good swimmer for my age. That's where I try to reclaim a bit of the time that I will lose on the six mile run.
merlin's point is correct about swimming in open water. Double the intimidation if you're in a wetsuit for the first or second time. Even for a good swimmer it's easy to feel claustrophobic when you're trying to swim and keep hitting people (or they hit you) and the wetsuit is on, etc., etc.
BTW--the word "facial" in tri-swimming takes on a whole new meaning.