Pool swimmers stepping into open water for the first time tend to make the same five mistakes, in roughly the same order. None of them are dangerous on their own — but they compound, and they're the difference between feeling competent in the sea and feeling like you're drowning while moving forward.
Starting too fast. Pool laps are short; you can hammer the first 50 and recover on the wall. Open water has no wall. Adrenaline, cold shock, and the desire to "get past the unfamiliar bit" make new swimmers explode out the gate, and then they're gassed at 200 m with 800 m to go. Fix: start at what feels embarrassingly slow. You'll catch up — and pass — most people in the second half.
Sighting every stroke. Beginners pop their head up to look forward constantly, which kills their stroke. The trick is to sight every 6–10 strokes, briefly — eyes just above the waterline for half a second, then back down. Think "alligator eyes". Practice in a pool by picking a fixed point on the wall and sighting it without breaking stroke rhythm.
Holding the breath. In a pool, you exhale into the water and inhale on the breath stroke. In cold open water, the cold-shock response makes new swimmers hold their breath then gulp on the side — which causes panic when a wave hits at the wrong moment. Fix: practice continuous exhale (humming bubbles into the water) before you ever leave the pool. It feels weird; it becomes automatic.
Skipping the face dunk. Your face has cold receptors that trigger the *mammalian dive reflex* — a slow-down of heart rate that you actually want. But the first thirty seconds of face-in-cold-water feels horrible if you didn't prep. Splash your face several times before you start swimming. Acclimatise *before* you commit.
No tow float. Already covered in the safety article — but it's the single highest-leverage piece of gear, and beginners are the most likely to skip it because they think it's "for unfit people". It's for everyone. Wear it.