Open Water Sighting Technique

FWIW I am not the fastest swimmer on here by a long shot, but i'm pretty decent.  That said, the reason I choose to sight first, then breathe is this:

When you sight you are lifting your head much higher than when you breathe.  I sight as I begin the stroke, so I have the most lifting power available.  I lift my eyes above the water, then begin to drop my head back down as I turn to the side and breathe.  That way as my arm reaches my hip i'm not trying to support the weight of my head out of the water... this would lead to a significant change in body position and really slow you down.  If done as I described above, your body should remain flat in the water and you should still feel like you are swimming "over a barrel" so to speak.

For reference, you head should not have to be out of the water at all when you breathe.  This picture (just talking about the picture, not the article) looks pretty good:

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/triathlons/training/breathe-in-freestyle-swimming.htm

The picture below looks extremely bad.  I wouldn't even have my head this far out of the water for sighting.

http://yaymicro.com/stock-image/swimmer-breathing-performing-the-crawl-stroke/3194353

I'm not too concerned about sighting during the IMFL because I think I will be able to stay on course by watching the people next to me.  I'm trying to fix a problem I had with a couple of open water Tris last year when I didn't always have someone next to me.

Ok so never have swam OW so maybe after this will seem like a stupid question but here goes...

I will not be at the front so I anticipate being around others during my swim.

I would guess I should be looking for the buoys that will mark the course, with that said are the buoys big (tall) enough to be seen from the surface while your swimming in the middle or back? How "far" up do you really have to get your head?

Do you change from free to breast to pop you r head up?

Thanks, Sorry I know it sounds dumb but I don't want to be stupid about this... 

The bouys are quite big and orange or yellow. They are easy to spot, but you do need to look up.

All you need is for your eyes to be out of the water, so you can keep swimming freestyle.

Buoys vary in size, but key ones for the turns tend to be quite larger. At least several feet acroos for events I've done. Sometimes they bundle several together.

You have to lift your head up, but you can do it from within your stroke. No need to work on water polo skills for this reason.

I (and most others) stay in free for sighting. I may switch to breast for a couple strokes if I lose track of things, or something really doesn't make sense. But otherwise it's free all the way.

Sight for yourself. Don't just follow. The slower swimmers are not likely to swim straight or pick the best lines. Figure it out for yourself so you know what you're doing.

I would also suggest, if possible, find some higher land marks such as trees, bridges, rocks etc, that are higher up on the shore and easier to see.  Depending on course, not always possible.  Sometimes the buoys are further apart, or harder to see depending on the sun.

I hope I will have this problem!

In some of the videos I've watched I see people bobbing up and down not swimming so (don't want to be on of them...)

Thanks I'm sure I will catch on pretty quick; at least I can hope.

I believe that I was a"breath then look" guy. 

However, my performance at the last Tikiswim suggests that I am a "swim just like you are in the pool until the guy in the outrigger starts screaming and pointing in the correct direction" guy.

Lack of sarc font intentional.

You would think that would be the case, but it isn't always. Just did a HIM in January and it was not only not a straight course, but we also had 3 to 4 foot seas with some renegade waves even larger. Sooooo, it was very difficult to see the buoys. There was a lot of stopping, waiting to move up to the top of the wave, sighting, and then swimming until you needed to check to make sure you were still on track, then doing it all again. Obviously not the fastest time I ever swam.

But to answer the original question. I breath first and sight as my head is going back down. It works for me even if it isn't the textbook way.