Training for the sprint tri

I have been training on the swimming portion of the tri this week really hard. I have been swimming in the lake where the race will be. Last night I finally swam 300 meters. It took 26 minutes but with a couple breaks in between. It is quite challenging for me because I'm not a strong swimmer at all and not fond of the lake itself. Along with some anxiety about not being able to touch the bottom and swimming with the turtles, I've been able to overcome it and swim on!! I've also noticed the benefits of my hard work as well. The waistline is slimming down so more and a couple pounds are falling off again. I'm going to keep practicing. It feels so great!!