Triathlon Psychology

Overview → The Playmaker → Session Notes
Session Notes The Playmaker
Addressing:

Swim Start Panic

The overwhelming sensory chaos of mass starts, bodies colliding, goggles getting kicked off, the primal fear of being held underwater, triggering fight-or-flight responses that destroy pacing strategy within the first two minutes

How The Playmaker Can Conquer Swim Start Panic in Triathlon

Posted on January 6, 2026 ~ min read
📋
For: The Playmaker athletes in Triathlon
Focus: Session Notes - Swim Start Panic
Read Time: ~8 min
Session Notes January 6, 2026
Profile: The Playmaker
Sport: Triathlon
Challenge: Swim Start Panic

The horn blasts. Bodies surge forward. Water explodes into chaos around you, and suddenly your brain stops processing anything useful. Arms slam into your ribs. Someone's heel catches your goggle strap. You can't find the buoy. You can't find your breath. You can't find yourself.

Swim start panic in triathlon is the overwhelming sensory flood that hijacks your nervous system in the opening minutes of a race. For The Playmaker iconThe Playmaker (IORC), this chaos creates a unique problem: your brain wants to read patterns, coordinate responses, and make tactical decisions. Mass starts offer none of that clarity. The water becomes a blender of limbs and fear, and your sophisticated pattern-recognition system has nothing coherent to process.

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Vladimir Novkov

M.A. Social Psychology | ISSA Elite Trainer | Expert in Sport Psychology for Athlete Development

My mission is to bridge the gap between mind and body, helping athletes and performers achieve a state of synergy where peak performance becomes a natural outcome of who they are.

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