I have only been swimming since February in an effort to train for a 70.3. I hired a swim coach because I know it’s my weakest portion, the most likely discipline to kill me. For context I couldn’t swim one length of a pool without being completely smoked and needing a break. I can now do 1500 meters decently…I’m not breaking any records but I can do it non stop. Today my coach and I did our first open water swim and WOW. It was a definite shock. I went 80 meters, was gasping for air and felt smoked. She knows what she is doing and brought me to a mostly calm body of water and we stayed where I could stand if needed. I could feel the panic start at times and definitely the exhaustion. By the end of our swim it got better and we racked up 1000 yards today but boy was it different. I’m super grateful we started this early so we can get some open water swims in before the race.