swimming is no joke kid. You gotta go after it at least 4 times a week.
Thanks, I’ll check that out once I spend more time in the pool. I’ve got a 6 months of practice ahead of me but it seems a bit steep to go from pools and a minor fear of water to open (lake) swimming.
Are you going to use a wetsuit? If it’s not cold, I recommend the sleeveless one, or just skipping it. The sleeves are quite restrictive to arm movement and can cause fatigue and panic if you are not used to it.
I guess naturally that is my next question which will probably require more localized advice. I’m assuming the lakes in Ontario are around 10*C in the summer so I’m not sure if you can swim in that without a suit on. Would prefer to go without as they can be expensive I hear. Thanks for the tip on sleeveless
10C (50F) is wayyyy to cold to skin it.
Wetsuit required or travel to a warmer area.
Typically triathlon shops will let you rent a wetsuit if you don’t want to buy it. I don’t know about sleeveless @ 50 degrees F.
10C is ok to swim, walrus regularly swim in much colder water, which is part of the reason they would dominate humans in the swim portion of a triatlon. Recommend cheap sources of blubber, such as old horses to build your stores to stay warm on your journey 
. Orca are faster than walrus, but they eat walrus so to emoliate them you’d need to do the same. Walrus are hard to find to consume in most areas.
sad troll.
Thanks ACE. I looked at some historical water temps around my area and it warms up to mid July would be around 21*C avg (70*F). That sounds quite swimmable. Will probably just avoid early and late season races then.
How you fools swim in murky water? I need to be able to see underwater
That’s true. I recall that there might even be some online stores that mail you a rental wetsuit. Anyway, I would not want to swim in that 10 degrees water without insulation, even though I am sure some people do it. Normal pools are heated to about 27 degrees, for comparison. You’re not going to have nipples after the swim, is what I’m saying.
The other thing to get used to is “spotting” in the lake. As mentioned above, you cannot see in the lake water. Even if you could, you need to take your head out of water to spot the buoy and swim in the right direction. So, you cannot breathe like in the normal swimming pool - you have to lift your head every few strokes and look ahead.
It’s generally not a good idea to just follow the guy in front of you. Sometimes, the whole chain of people might be misled by one guy. Also, be careful of people kicking you. It’s actually pretty dangerous.
lol ohai knows.
Yeah i’ve read about the physical nature of the swim leg… and also navigational tips. I’m not sure how competitive I would be on this outing so I might try to do my own thing even if it’s not the most optimal route.
Ohai never pegged you as a triathlete… which watch do you wear on race day? The Submariner or daytona. You also seem like a Cervelo kind of guy.
Cervelos are sick. I’ll take a P5.
I ride a carbon fiber Trek Madone with aero bars.
Macca - you decide on a bike yet?
mmmmm … the P5… 
I have a bit of an advantage on hills on my Trek though. I heard Tri bikes are harder to climb. Climbing is one of my strengths in Tri’s. I love hills.
What, you guys think I am some kind of couch potato? Well rounded humans must have diverse hobbies. It is the key to success.
I’ve got a bike (CAAD8) from my road days. I used to do duathlons (bike/run) so this isn’t completely foreign to me but I shied away from water as it’s not a forte.
I had a few bikes back in the day (Specialized, Cervelo, Ridley) but I wasn’t riding enough to keep the stable around.
my n***a
real quick. dick size after swimming in cold. lmk
^always minimal, you need to tape it up pre race as the blood is needed in other parts of your body for optimal efficiency
Goals for this year:
Mile- sub 6 minutes
5k- sub 23
10k- sub 46
Half marathon- sub 1:45