I completed my first Masters competition this weekend in the 100m Free which I'm proud of. However, during the last 15m of the race I began to hyperventilate and had to actually grab on to the lane rope in order to get my breathing under control as I felt I could not catch a single breath. Was totally embarrassed to say the least.
I actually think I went out too fast as compared to what I normally pace myself while in practice. Secondly, I was nervous before the race as this was my first competition but I wouldn't say extremely nervous. So both factors may have contributed to the hyperventilation.
Any suggestions on how to prevent this in the future? I don't want this to get into my head and be a stumbling block moving forward. Has anyone else experienced this while swimming and what did you do to overcome?
I actually think I went out too fast as compared to what I normally pace myself while in practice. Secondly, I was nervous before the race as this was my first competition but I wouldn't say extremely nervous. So both factors may have contributed to the hyperventilation.
This happened to me in my 2nd indoor triathlon. The swim is 10 minutes. I swam 17 lengths. My first 25 was 20 seconds and I had never been THAT fast. I certainly didn't keep that pace up. I don't know what I was thinking but I sure as heck wasn't thinking about pacing. During the months leading up to it, I had swum 21 lengths (525 yards) under 10 minutes! A big learning experience for me. Sorry it happened to you but glad to know I'm not alone.
I actually think I went out too fast as compared to what I normally pace myself while in practice. Secondly, I was nervous before the race as this was my first competition but I wouldn't say extremely nervous. So both factors may have contributed to the hyperventilation.
This happened to me in my 2nd indoor triathlon. The swim is 10 minutes. I swam 17 lengths. My first 25 was 20 seconds and I had never been THAT fast. I certainly didn't keep that pace up. I don't know what I was thinking but I sure as heck wasn't thinking about pacing. During the months leading up to it, I had swum 21 lengths (525 yards) under 10 minutes! A big learning experience for me. Sorry it happened to you but glad to know I'm not alone.
