Good job Tex! I can't believe you posted on my thread from over a year ago. It's officially a Zombie thread now. I find the swim super easy at this point, but I have a swim background. Just keep at it. Jen may agree, but the difficulties I see people having are all in their heads. The more you do it, the easier it will be to slay those scary things. And take it slow and build up! I did an Oly late last year and there was this young guy - at least 30 years younger than me - who was clearly in phenomenal shape. Well, he hit that water so hard! I passed him after about 150 yards, as he was just treading water, breathing like a wild man, all wide-eyes and scared looking. He ended up swimming to shore an quitting! It was all in his head!
If you're near the gulf, get out there with some sharks and do a mile. That'll make you fearless!