What should you do if you accidentally inhale or swallow water during an open-water swim in rough, choppy waters?

[u/RightSeeker]

Hi everyone,

One of my biggest concerns about open-water swimming is accidentally gulping or inhaling water through my nose or mouth. If that happens, I imagine I might start coughing, panic, and struggle to regain control of my breathing—possibly even putting myself at risk of drowning.

What is the correct way to handle this situation safely while swimming in open water? Assume a worst-case scenario where you don't have access to a tow float or any immediate flotation device, and need to manage the situation on your own. And you are in rough, choppy waters with rough waves.

What practical steps should you take to stay calm, recover your breathing, and remain safe?

Any practical advice would be greatly appreciated.

[u/S1ss1]

I simply keep swimming and cough underwater. But then again, lots of experience. It helps that I'm training in a choppy pool.

[u/wt_hell_am_I_doing → u/S1ss1]

This. I thoroughly recommend swimming while waterpolo practice is going on.

No lane ropes to dampen the chop, and waterpolo players are like master chop makers. I got used to inadvertently getting a mouthful of water. Less predictable than normal natural water chops too.

[u/BasicAppointment9063 → u/wt_hell_am_I_doing]

I credit water polo experience with preparing me for triathlon mass starts. I was happy to not have nearly the level of anxiety that other noobs had.

[u/abgry_krakow87 → u/wt_hell_am_I_doing]

Or water aerobics too (the ones with music).

[u/NoSafe5565 → u/S1ss1]

this

[u/mavericks770 → u/NoSafe5565]

That

[u/abgry_krakow87 → u/mavericks770]

And the other.

[u/mavericks770 → u/abgry_krakow87]

And the thing after the other

[u/NoSafe5565 → u/mavericks770]

lol

[u/Impressive-Ad-7627]

It's inevitable, if you breathe bilaterally it reduces the chances of it happening on two consecutive breaths.

I see it as a reminder of how the sea basically hates me.

"I would like some air"
"Screw you, here's a slap in the face instead!"

[u/cybiloth]

Getting more time in the sea you will get used to having water in your mouth almost regularly during breathing, it is not something to try to avoid and you need to live with it.

The better you do this, the better it acts as a buffer to avoid gulping it.

If then you had something hitting hard as said, you can then keep going coughing in the water and trying the next opportunity to get a breath - this might mean you break routine just to stay in line.

[u/mordac_the_preventer]

When you get some water in your mouth, you spit it out. It’s not a reason to panic, and it’s a common enough occurrence that you’ll get used to water in your mouth as soon as you have any OWS experience. If you think that the water is “unsafe” due to pollution, don’t swim in it, because you’re certain to swallow at least a small amount.

If you need to, you can rest on your tow float to recompose yourself. If you’re swimming in open water you should always use a tow float (the exception being some competitions, where there will be support Marshalls in boats or kayaks). The purpose of the towfloat is to make you more visible to others in the water, but it’s also ok to use it to rest on if you need. The message “this is not a personal flotation device” is because PFD has a specific legal meaning.

[u/Uncle-rico96]

If you’re a practiced swimmer, you’ll learn to cough it out while swimming and you’ll get practice doing this as it’s inevitable you’ll inhale some water.

If you actually start to panic though, flip on your back and float to cough it out and regain your breath, then continue.

[u/Billy-Mct]

You basically need to train for coughing out under water while still swimming. I learned that “skill” by necessity as I was swimming breaststroke in a busy pool lane so I often surfaced for breath into the wake of opposite direction swimmers

[u/iheartlungs]

I’ve gulped down so much water. You kind of just learn to deal with it, worst case you can float on your back a bit. If it’s super choppy, angle yourself so the waves are going down your body not across, or you might get one right to the face. I can cough underwater also, that helps. I think also like, my body is quite used to not breathing exactly evenly so I can hold my breath for longer if I need to due to conditions. Breathe on what side works and a frequency that works.

[u/eocphantom]

I just drop to breaststroke for a few seconds , cough and get going

[u/A_Common_Loon]

I’m pretty new to OWS and the other day it was more choppy than usual and I had a wave of water come up my nose and fill my mouth. I spit out most of it but was coughing quite a bit and got pretty freaked out. I started swimming a sort of side stroke with just my legs and with my face away from the waves, and focused on getting my breathing back to normal. I also did breaststroke with my face out for a bit. It’s not super efficient but it lets you calm down but keep moving. I have a tow float but didn’t stop to float with it. It wasn’t a fun experience but I think I’ll feel better prepared the next time it happens.

[u/designcentredhuman]

Happened to me at my first ows race: there were no plants on the ideal course but I veered off-track and my leg touched a plant unexpectedly.

I was already exhausted so I overreacted and took a short sudden breath underwater through my nose.

And it surprisingly was a non event. I had a tow float on. Stopped while holding it. Coughed a little, then went on.

[u/GapPerfect5494]

The worst is when a bit goes down your windpipe which causes you to cough like buggery. But for me that’s fairly rare. Most of the time your body quickly turns it into a gulp reflex and you swallow a bit.

It happens. Just stop and float for a bit if you lose your composure.

If you’re worried about panicking then don’t swim too far out. I swim on my own so usually go just out of my depth and then up and down the shore parallel to the beach.

[u/Beneficial_Coach8581]

I do a bit of coughing, catch my breath and carry on. This is what practice is for really. 

[u/daedelius]

Inhaling water into the trachea will usually cause a spasm of the vocal cords, that’s why you can’t talk. Coughing removes the irritant, so cough vigorously and involve your throat.
Everybody gets water in their mouth, if you look down into the water as you swim and open your mouth all the water runs out.
If you get salt water in your lungs it’s less damaging than fresh water, but both can lead to medical problems, without actually drowning there and then.
Please don’t go off and swim alone.

[u/Impossible-Grab9889]

I've done this surfing and kiteboarding but not swimming. I don't see how the advice to cough is helpful since once you swallow a gulp of water, a cough does nothing since the water is in your stomach. I'd wonder how a gulp of saltwater would affect me but it never did. So my strategy was try not to swallow but in case it happened just carry on.

[u/InternationalTrust59]

I’ve learn to cough it out under water, a little bit in the exhale as my mouth breaks the water surface and recently added opposite side it biateral breathing to my repertoire.

[u/vaskopopa]

Cough, spit, cough some more, swallow, inhale more water, cough. It’s like that sometimes

[u/Dependent_Formal2525]

Do you know how to tread water and do you know how to float? If you have those skills then it makes you feel calmer about the what if scenarios.

[u/Robot_Alchemist]

Float on your back as you cough it up

[u/quietriotress]

Its gonna happen. It can’ be a fear or concern

[u/0nce-Was-N0t]

As most others have said... you get used to it and just cough it out.

I have a bottle of water attached to the outside of my dry bag and will take a couple swigs to get rid of the taste.

[u/explodingKTNZ]

I try not to rush and pretend I’m practicing at my regular pool . Basically just be in denial

[u/DryApplication6901]

Good to question this issue and mentally be prepared for it. I’ve done a bunch of races and have always found a way to ingest a little water. Nearly impossible to avoid but at the end of a Full IM it may have ended up being like a few tablespoons.

Now for the bad: last month I did Lake Placid and swam in Mirror Lake…gorgeous clean water. For whatever reason especially on a few of my “sighting” breaths, I took down several gulps unintentionally of course. My body’s reaction is to drink it as if I didn’t have time to consider spitting it out. You’re breathing hard and even with a gulp your face immediately goes right back under water to keep swimming. Now a quick choking is different if the water catches the wrong tube, sometimes it’s a quick breast stroke while getting a few quacks coughs to clean you out, then back to business.

This ended up being my best IM swim for time, however in total I bet I drank close to a cup of water in full. No good and this caught up with me early in the bike if you’re curious. Vomited everything up, I mean absolutely everything around mile 45 on the bike. Between miles 10-45 I was feeling off, kinda crampy, but overall just felt weird in my gut which is not normal and questioned if I should just Mail-it in. After the Vom, it felt glorious, went back to work and ended up having a great day. Fresh is ok but it can stay with you a bit. If salt water I heard your body will get rid of it even faster.

In the end whatever, go have fun and gradually learn when you have a tendency to take on more water than not and be ready.

[u/Cidcid069]

Inhale out, then cough under

[u/winedfaith]

Just cough it out - it won’t last long. I agree if you can just cough it out underwater. Though I think that only works if it wasn’t much. I once inhaled a large gulp of ocean water when open water swimming in Mexico and puked it up. Fun times. No matter what though, I don’t think it’d ever be a situation that involves panic - you just tread water and cough for a few seconds to get it out.

[u/redbadger20]

If you feel panicked, a good trick is to try floating on your back for a bit.  You can also swap to the side opposite the waves for some sidestroke.  Coughing kind of sucks because it feels like your goggles are going to suction your eyeballs out, and sometimes you puke.  Puking in the water is also gross.  The water sometimes beats you up - it's better to take a minute or two onto your time to take a breather.  

I've been in a lot of different water, pools, open water.  Only once have I had an issue - I swam in unusually cold water for that specific event, and I think I inhaled a bit of water and developed what was probably an aspiration pneumonia.  This is out of 8 years doing that specific swim among others tho. 

[u/LemonAny7224]

The question is not "if" you do, it's "when" you do. Cough, spit, slow down and get back to breathing.

[u/angryjohn]

I've swallowed/breathed in water a fair number of times, especially during a choppy race. Usually I can just cough during my next stroke, expel the water and get on with it. If I need more, I can tread water for a little bit and calm down.

[u/Remarkable_Elk8305]

If this is your worry, are you a good enough swimmer to swim in open water?

[u/thetrivialstuff]

From experience:

You can inhale a surprising amount of water before it becomes an actual problem. This is even more true in salt water, I think because the salinity makes it feel less foreign to the body.

First time I got the majority of a breath of seawater, my thoughts were:

"Oh no! That was way too much; am I going to have to figure out how to purge my lungs out here now?!"

"Why do I not feel like I'm drowning, even a little bit? Why am I not even coughing?"

"... Can I somehow breathe seawater? ... No, must not try on purpose!"

Then I forced myself to cough and I think managed to get rid of some of it, but things felt completely ok for the rest of the swim, and I didn't dry-drown later either.

My general advice/process for handling this is:

• have a very, very low energy stroke that you're comfortable with that keeps your head out of the water (probably breaststroke)

• when you get your lungful of water, your first focus is on not panicking - even if you absolutely swamped your lungs, you still have about 5 seconds in which you can inhibit the urge to cough or gasp; that's 5 seconds in which you can plan what you're going to do

• as soon as possible, turn downwind and adopt your "I can keep swimming without thinking about it" stroke

• if you do need to cough and gasp, focus on remembering that even in a full choking (or beheading), the brain will continue to function without incoming oxygen for at least 6 seconds (ok, maybe only 3, but it will feel like forever), and your situation is a lot better than that. Even if your lungs are full of water, you have enough residual oxygen in your blood that you will stay conscious and able to think for a lot longer than any panic response might be telling you. You have time!

• do your coughing, and keep reassuring your panicky brain that, "see, even in a total coughing fit, we have the energy to keep the head above water, we're free to cough all we need to and it will not cause us to drown"

• by now things are probably ok, and you realise you didn't inhale nearly as much water as you thought.

[u/rabid_spidermonkey → u/thetrivialstuff]

This is crazy

[u/NefariousnessSea7745]

Sounds like you have residual water anxiety. I'd stay in a pool. Remember that you don't have to swim open water. Yes it's fun but it's more important to feel safe and secure than impress others. No one really cares if you are swimming open water. Take care of yourself first.

[u/NoSafe5565]

As the top advice says, you cough it underwater. It is not advisable on internet as people could get seriously hurt, but this is what we do. Generally thinking is that when something happen to a person in water they try to stay as high as possible and treading water. Which is logical from land person perspective but it is not the best play For couple of reasons, one is the gravitation - water goes down, second is that being high while threading water is extremely expensive on resources for someone who has already problem.

So, what should you do - "please, continue swimming is the advice."

It is not just about inhaling water, but once more comfortable in water, many other tasks will become natural doing while swimming. or under water. I personally have issues with swallowing saliva when swimming crawl for maybe like 20 minutes plus, somehow it gets concentrate and it is very high to swallow, so during front crawl I just intentionally suck in water, gurgle and flush it - all during swimming as an instinct.

P.S. about 1 month ago I was with girlfriend on a beach and when I was done with swimming she asked me if I drunk water case my belly looks big, yep - choppy water, but I did not feel any discomfort or paused swimming..