Conflict between training/competing times of day

This is somewhat related to the “eat or not before swimming in early morning thread”--though my question is about competition rather than training. I did a search of the forums and couldn’t find an answer. First a little background. I am not a morning person. If I could (i.e., if work and life and everything else didn’t intervene), I’d probably go to sleep at 1 and wake at 9. By choice, I generally swim at noon with my master’s group. Because of scheduling conflicts, on Monday and Tuesday of this week, I woke up really early (for me), didn’t sleep much or well, then went to the pool to swim. OMG was that a horrible experience. On both days, I could not warm up or get comfortable in the water or get my body to loosen up. I nearly got out after 1000 yards, and I usually never want to get out before I’ve finished the planned workout. More to the point of my question, I was also about 4 seconds per 100 slower than I would have been at noon, based on perceived effort. And I’ve noticed the same crappy feeling pretty much every time I swim in the early morning. So, I’m looking ahead to this summer, and to one open water swim in particular, though my question has more to do with time of day than to venue. This open water swim is designed for early birds. It starts at 8:30--but it starts on an island. Which means that you have to take the 6:30 ferry over, then wait around for the start. Which in turn means that I have to get up really early (for me), and that I do not sleep much or well. When I have done this swim in the past, the feeling has usually been more like the morning swims than the noon ones (though, of course, there is more adrenaline, etc. flowing during a race). Anyone else have a similar experience? Does anyone have any advice about how to get to a place where an early morning competition doesn’t automatically mean a handicap? Aside, that is, from some crazy idea like changing all of my regular workout times to the early morning.