Thinking about starting open water swimming?

Here is a real easy, albeit boring, first step: Go to a fresh water lake that has swimming and swim back and forth in the allowable area. This has several advantages: 1) No waves, shark fears, jellyfish, tides, currents, etc to cope with. 2) You can get used to sighting in a less stressful environment. 3) You can get used to the idea of not being able to see the bottom (i.e. pick a muddy lake). 4) There will be a lifeguard on duty. Second step: Do a relatively short race in a bay. This adds the shark fear, slight current, slight wave, and salt water factors as well as the race factor. A good example would be the Fenton Island swim (1.3-ish miles) in the Atlantic City area. I agree that you want to stay away from the 500-people-all-going-to-the-same-buoy-at-the-same-time races. Third step: Ocean race of moderate size. After that, it's purely up to your desires. Oh yes, don't wear a wetsuit - it's just not the same experience.

Here is a real easy, albeit boring, first step: Go to a fresh water lake that has swimming and swim back and forth in the allowable area. This has several advantages: 1) No waves, shark fears, jellyfish, tides, currents, etc to cope with. 2) You can get used to sighting in a less stressful environment. 3) You can get used to the idea of not being able to see the bottom (i.e. pick a muddy lake). 4) There will be a lifeguard on duty. Second step: Do a relatively short race in a bay. This adds the shark fear, slight current, slight wave, and salt water factors as well as the race factor. A good example would be the Fenton Island swim (1.3-ish miles) in the Atlantic City area. I agree that you want to stay away from the 500-people-all-going-to-the-same-buoy-at-the-same-time races. Third step: Ocean race of moderate size. After that, it's purely up to your desires. Oh yes, don't wear a wetsuit - it's just not the same experience.