I am about 2 years new to this crazy sport in which I am totally addicted! The swim is my weakest of the three. While I am not afraid of the sharks as there are a lot of people in front of me, so I am sure the sharks will get them first. What I think I am most concerned about is the other athletes kicking and arms flailing (sp?) and getting hit in the face. I have been kicked and hit and now try to stay as far on the outside as possible. I did the California 70.3 in Oceanside in March, which was my longest tri and stayed on the outside and took my time. I agree with the other writers, you need to get your wife in the ocean and go with her. I would never swim in the ocean alone.

Good luck!

What a great question!!!!!!!

Watching Jaws at an early age firmly rooted a serious shark phobia. Never mind that I live in Ontario and only have lakes to swim in, that doesn't mean a thing when you are 12 and afraid to swim in an above ground swimming pool because you could picture Jaws bursting through the bottom of the pool. I spent literally years asking around about this very question before plunging into the world of triathlon. The answer I got was don't worry about it. "You mean they don't monitor or DO anything about the sharks?"....people would just laugh at me and remind me of where I live. One person said it was a "rush" to see one. All I could think of is 'ya, I rush to the bottom of the ocean when I die of a heart attack!'

But there is good news, it has taken me 3 years to be able to swim in the MAN-MADE lake alone without hearing the "dunda, dunda" ringing in my ears, I needed to stick close to shore in the beginning. Now I can venture out into the "lake" but avoid the diver-in-training section

Here are my shark avoidance tips for triathlon:

1. Tell your wife that during the race she will most likely completely lose her fear of the sharks, as I did, because you are too busy avoiding the millions of swimmers trying to kick you in the face, or whack you in the head, or swim over you. Oh no...I hope I didn't create another phobia.

2. The other trick I use is to pick a group of 2 or 3 swimmers going relatively the same pace as me and stick with them. Safety in numbers and all that! But make sure that she and/or her group is siting the markers properly to avoid drifting away from the pack. Cause you-know-who will be waiting if she drifts away (just kidding of course) and it will make her swim that much longer.

3. Finally, tell her to make sure that she swims at her OWN pace. When in the larger group there is a tendancy to go faster than you've trained for. In the water this means you run out of breath more quickly and brings on panic, when you panic you forget the other swimmers and remember Jaws laying in wait under the water and makes the swim that much longer (see a theme?).

P.S. Tell your wife I'm glued to the TV during shark week...it's not just a phobia it is a sickness! LOL

I'm sure she will do great!! Goodluck to her. Welcome to triathlon...

I just did an Olympic lenght triathlon in Chattanooga. The swim was in the Tennessee river. For the first 50 -100 meters I floundered. So I rolled on my back, relaxed a bit, got my mind at ease in regards to swimming in a river, and then was able to continue the swim with no issue. The key for me is to take it slow and easy at first until you become comfortable, then increase your pace as you swim. The 1500 meters I did was the longest open water swim I had ever done. I had done a few 400 - 600 meter lake swims. While it prepared me for the longer swim, it is a bit scary to a newbie (and I am - only been doing this for just about a year.)

I felt so good about how I did that I am going to do my first half-ironman, in the ocean, in May of 2008. Until then I will do as many open water events as possible, knowing that it will get easier. But tell her to take it easy and to swim her race and her pace...