I fit this bill!  I learned how to swim almost a year ago and completed my first half marathon in November (also slow).  My first sprint tri is on May 23 in Fl.  I am terrified of the group swim and have been swimming in a pool.  Tonight I am going to a group open water swim practice that a local tri club has open to the public .  I am pretty sure I'm going to look foolish the first few times but there's no going back now.  I'm so glad others are going though this with me.

Hey Jasmine1972- I found my way over to this posting...I just did my swim training today and I am exhausted.  I have to say that I have NEVER slept as well as I have been since I started training for this tri.  I don't think that I am going to worry about a wetsuit for the tri at the end of June.  I've heard that it is a completely different experience swimming in the suit and it would help with buoyancy, but I'm not up for the expense of it.  I'm still not convinced that I will be able to complete this tri, but I am definitely giving it my all...

This is a problem that I am facing this summer. I'm signed up for a couple of sprint tri's, and while I love swimming at the pool (I go to local place for townies, which makes being self-conscious not such a bit deal) I'm worried about the open water swim temp that may require a wetsuit. While I love training for the tri and doing all of the different workouts (which helps with some of the impact injuries of just training for running or swimming or biking) I'm a grad student and I can't afford a wetsuit after just having bought a bike. I've heard that some places you can rent a wetsuit, but there again, I'm not sure they'll have one in my size... Here's hoping that I can just swim it in my tri-suit and not freeze! Anyway, beside that, good luck with your tri-training! My first tri is in a couple of weeks, so we'll see how that goes. My goal is to cross the finish line upright and under my own volition, I'm not fast enough to even begin to think about finishing in the top of my class, but hey! for a tri, completing it is enough, right? Anyway, have fun with training and I look forward to hearing how it goes.

It's actually a good question, and the fortunate thing is they come off a lot easier than they go on! I've practiced this fun event after a couple of lake swims, and once I just doused myself and my suit in the shower at home for a session (a really baaaaad picture in your mind, I know).

You simply take your wetsuit off inside out. Don't worry about how it looks after it comes off. You can put it back in nice rightside order after the race.

First, send your husband to the TV.  Then realize that a wetsuit comes off a lot easier when wet (the fabric gives more). It helps also if you remember to tug down your the neck area before you get out of the H20 and let some more water inside.  You don't have to get in the shower to practice, if you will keep in mind that water helps the process when the real thing is happening.

Stand up as if you just got out of the water. Reach back and grab the zipper pull. You may have to practice that a few times before you can find it easily.  I find it helps to duck my head and swing my shoulders so the thingie flops up in my sight.  Pull down the zipper as far as it will go (this may only be halfway, but try to take it as far as you can).  Then reach up and undo the neck velcro (if you try to do that before you partially unzip, it will just stick back together again and you'll find yourself in an endless loop--I know because I've done it).

Grap the zipper again and pull it down all the way if you didn't already get it all the way down the first time.  You can also practice doing this while running, or at least walking fast.

Then you have to unpeel like a banana.  Grab one shoulder of the suit (watch your nails) and pull it straight down your arm, inside out, as far as it will go. Sometimes it will go the whole way and your arm will come out. Sometimes it will stop halfway and you will have to grab the other shoulder and do the inside out strip thing before it all comes off your arms, one at a time, to the waist.

Now comes the fun part.  Keep running or walking to your stopping point--that can be at transition, or a place you just decide where you want to disrobe on the way (try to be sure it's not where the bike out is!).  I can do this standing up, but some people need to sit down.  Practice it both ways.

Shove the rubber mass down your hips and then peel off the legs inside out one at a time--like you are taking off pantyhose. The first one is the hardest, of course, and I just use my hands to peel it off backwards down the leg and off my foot, hopping around like a rabbit on caffiene.  Then I use the free foot to step on the folded mass of the other leg and push it down.

It should end up perfectly inside out if you did it right.

Now, this will require practice, and a beer afterwards.  And shut the blinds.

Good luck!

Terry

I did my first sprint tri two summers ago in Disneyland (a Danskin event) and can share with you that just about everyone seems to share both the fear of the swim as well as a 'can I really do this' concern.  I had both negatives running through my head when it hit me.  Literally.  I was beaned hard in the nose during the first few minutes of the swim (sucking in way too much California Adventure lagoon water in the process) and went into full panic mode.  At that moment, I seriously considered my sanity for even entering the event.  Five minutes of balancing on a water noodle and listening to a swim angel shore up my confidence was all it took to get back 'in the swim of things'.  Yeah, the nose hurt like crazy and yes, I was way behind all but a few other competitors but I got through the swim and made my way through the rest of the event.  Wearing the finishers medal around Disneyland the remainder of the day was incredibly fun but even better was the knowledge that I pulled through when I thought I couldn't.  And you will do it too!

May I suggest the book "Slow, Fat Triathlete" by Jayne Williams?  I read it before my first sprint tri and it answered many of the questions I had regarding what to expect during transitions, how to prep, etc. from the perspective of a newbie.  She also has a wonderful sense of humor which made the book a fun read (the description of her wandering through the woods in her wet suit like a giant slug is priceless).