My first triathlon is less than a month away!

Hi!  I'm new here too and my first race is also a month away (although mine is swim and run only).  Good work on the practice triathlon!   I think the only advice I can give you for swimming is to picture your head rotating on an axis from the top of your head to your feet.  There should be no lifting, and really you only turn your head enough to get your mouth clear of the water (don't be trying to look upwards or anything).  And remember that you are looking mostly down and only a tiny bit forward when swimming freestyle; don't make the mistake of pointing your face forward as you swim.

Good luck!!

Welcome to BT and signing up for your first tri! 

My best advise to you regarding swimming is either take some swimming lessons or join a Masters class.  They will give you a lot of good advise/pointers on your technique and I've heard of huge improvements from local tri friends who've done this.  The old adage, practise, practise, practise and technique, technique, technique really applies to swimming.  Learning to relax in the water is a big thing, and then learning to breath properly (i.e., on the side is important too).  For open water swims you will need to sight ahead every now and again (landmarks/buoys etc) by lifting your head slightly out of the water, so getting used to this as well is good.  It's also good to breath out underwater, therefore you need less time when you roll your head to one side to take a breath.  The most important thing though is learning how often to breath.  So many people take a lot of strokes with their head underwater before they take a quick breath, and it's the quickest way to tire yourself out.  Breath as often as you need to - it was one of the most important lessons I ever learnt!

You certainly sound like you can do the whole thing, with your trainining-triathlon a couple of days ago, very impressive.  I think that qualifies as a "double brick", which means you are truly insane, and means that I have absolutely no doubt that you will be a triathlete very soon, and for some time to come.   Have people warned you how utterly addictive it is - but it's so much fun, both the training and the racing. 

Don't worry about the OWS as there are always lots of volunteer kayaks/paddleboards/boats to help you out if you need a break or get into a bit of trouble.  Just raise your arm, or swim over to one, and they are happy to help you out, as this happens fairly commonly.  If you're wearing a wetsuit you can just stop and float as they are so incredibly bouyant.  And remember that you don't have to do freestyle - backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke - anything goes and I've seen it all in triathlons.

Finish the race with a huge smile on your face, have fun and be proud of all your achievements!