I rather go home… I know it’s possible to do it, but I am not going to risk my life for a hobby… 
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I entered a local Olympic tri 3 weeks ago. Just as a “get a feel for tri again”. First time I’d been back in the sea in (almost to the day) 2 years. We had those exact same conditions. IM have cancelled or shortened for less than that, but we proceeded.
I battled so much to get past the breakers, that I just turned around and swam back out. It was a 2 x 750m swim course and the mental thought of having to get in another time broke me. Got back to the beach, handed in my timing chip and said I’ll just restart with the Sprint guys and try and have some untimed, no pressure fun here.
Exactly the thoughts that entered my mind as I missioned that first time to get over the breakers. Not worth it.
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Joining the local OWS group again, so I can get one or two sea swims in per week.
Tomorrow morning we’re swimming at Nahoon Beach.
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Gotta love those Australian m courses, instead of going through the break twice, you get to do it 4.
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Looking at those photos…most of those people have not practiced swimming in the surf. Yikes, don’t just throw your body at the wave or wait standing straight up waiting for it to knock you down, dive under. I can’t imagine racing a full Ironman after taking a couple large wave blows right to the body like that.
So, have any of you done a rough ocean race WITHOUT having practiced swimming in those kinds of conditions?
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So we just made reservations for Destin, FL over Spring Break…first vacation in years. In 2017, I got a brand new Roka wetsuit for Xmas…and I literally have never used it. 
So I’m gonna bring it down on Spring Break and get a few OWS in…hell, I may even have to get in the pool a bit before it to make sure I don’t drown. 
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Me. That race was Barcelona 2021 and Lanzarote was quite rough in 2019.
I wasn’t expecting rough conditions for either, but in honesty I wouldn’t have specifically trained for it anyway. I’m pretty confident in the water, and I think that’s what you’re really training for in open water more than technique. Once you’ve done a fair amount of OWS such that you’re not worried going in, then you’ve done enough.
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I think you just articulated exactly what I’m trying to do this week way better than I could have. I don’t think I even realized just what it was I’m doing with this ocean swimming in the popular surf spots when as @Joelrivera pointed out, there is a “river” just on the other side of the beach that has near perfect conditions for OWS. I’m trying to bank salt water swim experience, and I figured 30min in the river might get me 5 XP, but taking on the harder challenge of the waves in the Atlantic proper gets me 15 XP. I already know I can do the swim just fine, but come raceday I want to be able to look out into the ocean and not have any trepidation or second thoughts as that could cost me some time.
Put me in a warm murky lake and I’m perfectly fine as that’s what I swim in come summer. In terms of proper salt water OWS experience (not counting splashing around during a holiday, snorkeling, or surfing) I’ve got maybe 5hrs in the bank?
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This is very smart, IMO…take advantage of the situation to put yourself in unfamiliar situations and that may mimic (or be worse than) race day conditions.
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This was the calm seas last Spet at a local tri in Middletown, RI. a large number of people were surfed back in. I am a strong swimmer and was wiped out when I got out.
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Personally I think this counts too, when you’re talking about comfort. There’s people going in that that think there are monsters lurking in the depths, that they’re going to get dragged under etc. A few days snorkelling sorts that out…if it’s calm enough to snorkel of course, otherwise they’ll be choking up salt water and terrified of race day!
Second Beach? 
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@Power13 Ding Ding Ding! You win the prize!! it was great - all my OWS leadng up were flat…
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My dad was stationed there when I was in Jr. High School…Go Islanders!
IIRC Second Beach had the best surf, but Third Beach was awesome to just swim around because of the rocks, etc. We even snagged a couple of lobsters once!
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@Power13 No kidding! I am transplant My wife was born and raised in Middletown and HS graduate. After living in Maryland/MA we moved back and now reside in Portsmouth. Surfer’s End is great! and 3rd is the best for the kids, though would you believe two weeks ago we had a Nor’easter and there people surfing Third Beach towards Peabody!! Never seen that before.
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Many years ago I was on a beach in Brazil with my family, not much happening and the weather wasn’t so good so I asked about surf lessons for my son and myself (I’m no surfer). The sea was rough, and I didn’t realise they were holding some sort of world championship there that weekend so I hadn’t picked the easiest of conditions.
Some time later I was on my hands and knees throwing up salt water like my life depended on it, I was wrecked for a few days - I’ve never felt anything like it since! 
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Brazil (That is where I transplanted from to RI) has great surf but quite rough! In 2019 did a few trips back home for work and tried doing some OWS in Copacabana - what a mistake that was!
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My first experience with ocean swimming (other than some relaxed snorkeling in Mexico) was 70.3 worlds in Nice. I live on the land locked prairies in Canada with a lot of lakes that can get rough in the wind, but nothing that can compare to waves in the ocean. Thankfully it was quite calm in the morning on race day in Nice, which was very much welcomed! 
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Hey gang,
Late entry here. I’m signed up for my first 70.3 in July (Donner Lake, near Tahoe). I signed up for this last year, trained all the way up to the event until it was cancelled due to road construction. I switched to the Lake Tahoe 70.3 a month later, kept training and then wild fire smoke cancelled that event. Ugh! I’m also doing two XTERRA events in Tahoe this summer (those are my favorite races!). Really looking forward to a productive year of training. After cyclocross season ended in early December I’ve just been doing 3 base workouts a week with 2-3 strength training sessions (plus a LOT of fishing, my other passion). Structured training starts in March. I plan to do a 6 week polarized base LV with 3 swims per week prior to starting the TR 70.3 plan. I’ll most likely use the bike and swim workouts from TR, but I’ll be subbing out the runs as I feel they are a bit to taxing. My main goal this year is to get my FTP up from 224 to 240 (upper 230’s would work) and get my run back to where it was 2 years ago. My PR for a HM is 1:37, on a pretty fast course. Donner 70.3 has a VERY fast looking run course, so finishing that in under 1:45 would have me ecstatic!
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Total opposite for me. My first tri was in a lake. First time I’d ever been in a lake. So bizarre. Water was still. It didn’t taste salty. It didn’t smell salty. It was really murky. I’ve been in lake maybe 5x now and it’s still weird.
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