Hit the water

So the pool is bigger than the one at the Y I had been training in. And I was to start in the far pool. I joked that it had a prime James Bond let the sharks out into the water set up. And then I noticed the far pool was a diving pool - perfect - deep enough for sharks too. I find the extreme and far fetched helps to keep one's mind off the reality of the situation...

Anyways, I started at my slated start time. It was just too confusing to stick behind. Plus KP did eventually catch up with me. I had a woman in front of me that had LOTS to share about the ins and outs pros and cons of the triathlon... how to line up my towel, sneaks etc for the transition area and where was my swim cap (just not something I have embraced yet). The woman behind me - this was her first triathlon. She has been doing some sort of group training however - group runs group cycles group swims... Again something not quite my thing. I wasn't intimidated by it. I think I just still wasn't in the mood to be chatty at that hour.
So I get in the water and in the first lane I realise I am catching up to the woman in front of me. I then notice she is catching up to the woman in front of her. And not too long after I notice the woman behind me in my peripheral vision. And somewhere in there we hit a log jam and I started treading. Sure maybe not the most competitive approach to take but when you are in over your head (the depth of the pool not the event) I will hang back. I am not playing water polo. So I lost some time in the water. Kind of pissed me off and bummed me out all at the same time. The middle of the pack helped with me speed but the obvious log jam was just annoying.
OH and let's not forget the woman choking on pool water and hanging ropes that I swam by. That created at least one lengths worth of swim wondering - do they have life guards here? is she OK? will someone else jump in to save her? should I have stopped? Losing one's cool and composure in the water is not all that good.
I eventually switched over to breast stroke to keep my eye on all that was going on around me.
I did not run from the ladder to the outside. HELLO?!?!? How many times as a kid were we told not to run around the pool? And I did see a few women take a spill on the wet cement. And running from the warm inside to that bitter cold outside???
CF did come up from behind and egg me on to run a little but I just ran a little.