u/Educational-Bonus187

I had my first sprint tri today, and the swim went horrendously. After 50m I was gassed and struggled for the other 700m.

Thing is, I have been comfortably swimming 750m and more in the pool (which I now understand is very different), but is there anything specific I can do to improve in open water. The main thing I noticed was unreal chest tightness.

I have a full distance tri in a month so would like to improve as much as I can in the next 30 or so days.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Edit: by full distance I mean Olympic, not full IM