Panaga Triathlon October 2016

It was Bobby’s 4th Panaga Triathlon and Robert’s first attempt at open water swim.

Robert (left) Bobby (middle) me (right)

Robert has shared his experience with us. Have a read below on what he has to say about his first open water swim.

“Hi guys, I’m RJ. Just wanted to share my experience from my first open water swim.

Last Sunday was my very first time to swim open water and to add to the excitement I was participating in the Panaga Triathlon without any prior experience. Well, I took for granted that swimming open water was an easy task like swimming in the pool. Guess I learnt the hard way but nevertheless gain a wonderful experience.

Before the race, we are all briefed by the official about the safety and I think it is very important to understand the briefing in case of any emergency. Once the flag off, we all ran toward the sea and began to swim.

I started with front crawl and halfway through the first buoy, I felt myself drifting away by the strong sea current. Guess this was my first mistake/difficulty by not observing the current flow direction beforehand and have to swim against the flow. My second problem was sighting. When I did the front crawl, I can barely see in front. I needed to stop and treaded for few times to see my direction. Not long after that, my goggles started to flood from the waves bashing. Again I need to tread water and remove water from my goggles. Will remember to extra tighten the strap next time. The problem persists and after a few times it becomes irritating to my eyes. At this point I decided that I’ was gonna observe the race by swimming breast stroke.

On the way back to the finishing line, we were swimming ahead of the waves. The wave can be useful to give you the little push from your swim if you know how to be ahead of it when it comes. I continue to swim until I can start to stand up and wade through the water. I tried for awhile but found it quite tiring and instead I decided to continue to swim until my hands can touch the sea bed. Then I proceed to run to the finishing line.

I am glad that I safely completed the swim and gained a valuable experience. Hope I can do better next time with more preparation.

There are some tips I would like to share :-

1. Study the sea before you go in, the current flow pattern, any visible hazards like rocks. Try not to swim against the flow and follow the flow for your advantage.

2. Sighting. Although breast stroke is good for sighting but it’s slow for a race. The best way is to swim front crawl and intermittently applying the water polo head-up front crawl technique.

3. Extra tighten your goggles strap. The waves somehow will make the water seep into your goggles.

4. Keep calm no matter what. The sea might be rough but remember to always stay calm and don’t panic.

5. Enjoy your swim and practice safe.

Happy swimming.” – Robert

Robert is a strong swimmer and he swims fast too.

We are happy for him for giving open water swim a try.

Now let’s continue with Bobby’s triathlon.

Bobby was going for the finishing line!

After the triathlon was over, we enjoyed wonderful breakfast meal together.

Interested to join the Panaga Triathlon? Click here to get updated on their next event.

To learn to swim, click here for more info.

Hayatti Rahgeni The Effortless Swim Team