Flip turns - who needs them?

I will never race in a pool. If I race at all, it will be in open water. I can do flip turns, but I don't think they are very good. When I do them, my head is directly under the backstroke flags when I take my first breath. With open turns, my head is about a length beyond the flags. When I do flip turns, I notice a lot more cardio stress. I don't really recover until about half a length. Is there a training benefit to doing flip turns in practice that will help me in open water? Does that second or two of holding my breath help me at all in terms of conditioning? If you're not going to race in the pool, then why worry about flips? If you want to work on breath control you can still do no breath inside the flags with an open turn. If I'm in a crowded lane and don't flip I still hold my breath on the open turn.

I will never race in a pool. If I race at all, it will be in open water. I can do flip turns, but I don't think they are very good. When I do them, my head is directly under the backstroke flags when I take my first breath. With open turns, my head is about a length beyond the flags. When I do flip turns, I notice a lot more cardio stress. I don't really recover until about half a length. Is there a training benefit to doing flip turns in practice that will help me in open water? Does that second or two of holding my breath help me at all in terms of conditioning? If you're not going to race in the pool, then why worry about flips? If you want to work on breath control you can still do no breath inside the flags with an open turn. If I'm in a crowded lane and don't flip I still hold my breath on the open turn.