Open water swimming is either the best part of triathlon — or the reason you haven’t signed up yet. This week, we’re talking about it.

In this bonus episode of Girls Talk Tri, April and Kate break down everything you need to know before your first open water swim: what to wear, what to bring, what to do when the washing machine start feels like actual chaos, and — most importantly — what to do if you panic. Spoiler: you’re not the only one. Kate’s first open water swim with goggles nearly ended her triathlon career before it started, and April grew up as what she calls a “sea witch” in Minnesota lakes (which, it turns out, is not the same as swimming in a race with 300 of your closest strangers). We’re sharing the tips we wish someone had handed us on the pool deck, and taking some hot takes on the sport’s most debated open water questions.

In this episode:

• Wetsuit 101 — when to wear one, which kind, and the calf cramp nobody warns you about
• Goggles, caps, and why you should always pack a backup pair
• The washing machine start: what it actually feels like and how to survive it
• Sighting — how to swim in a straight line when there’s no black line to follow
• What to do if you panic in the water (this one is important)
• April’s Ruidoso race recon that turned into a 7-hour unexpected adventure
• Our current reads and listens: Dungeon Crawler Carl and National Park After Dark
• Hot takes: Is skipping open water practice okay? Are wetsuits cheating? Should you always start at the back?

Find us on Instagram @girlstalktri and send your open water questions, horror stories, and wins to girlstalktri@gmail.com. If this episode helped calm the nerves even a little, leave us a rating and review — it means more than you know. 🌊

April got a call. There was a spot on the Department of the Air Force triathlon team for a 25-year-old Armed Forces competition at Point Mugu, California — draft legal, Olympic distance, racing against people with pro cards. She'd never done draft legal in her life. She said yes anyway.

This week April gives us the full breakdown: learning to ride in a paceline the day before the race, surviving an ocean swim with serious tide, biking the 40k with just one other athlete while everyone else was long gone, and finishing dead last by twenty minutes in the California heat with no water at the aid stations. She also cries on the run, gets rescued by an Army medic named Stephanie, and calls it one of the top five experiences of her life.

Meanwhile Kate is officially training for life — 10,000 steps a day, overnight camping with the doggos, and making peace with watching her fitness numbers drop. She checks in on how she's feeling after sharing her big news last episode. And Girl Dinner: Shift & Giggles gives us rapid-fire race day questions you won't see coming.

In this episode:

• What draft legal racing actually is — and why it's a completely different sport
• What it feels like to be dead last in a field of elites (and how to keep going anyway)
• The Army medic who ran April's final mile and changed everything
• April's 9-minute PR — and why she still felt completely out of her league
• Kate's slow fall: training for joy, solo camping adventures, and facing her fear of the trail
• Girl Dinner: Shift & Giggles — race thoughts, fails, and one very memorable answer about a post-race meal

New episodes out weekly. Follow us at @girlstalktri on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Have something to share? Email us at girlstalktri@gmail.com — you might get a shoutout on the pod.

Girls Talk Tri — two friends, three sports, zero gatekeeping.

Kate has something to share.

After nearly a year of training for Ironman California — her first full — Kate made the decision to DNS. In this episode, she walks us through what actually happened: the weekend she couldn't force herself to get out the door, the trail run that turned into a hike, the two-week illness that broke the build, and the moment she realized the joy was gone. Plus what it feels like to step back from a goal when you have an audience watching.

April holds space, asks the hard questions, and then admits she's counting down the days to her own off-season after XTERRA Worlds.

We also talk morning routines (Kate is a phone scroller and she knows it), April's Air Force triathlon team group chat (the LTs did a full intel briefing on race-eve entertainment options — including Keanu Reeves' band), and we debut a new Girl Dinner dish: Would You Rather, triathlon edition. Kate is a lawyer who cannot stop defending her answers. It's a five-course meal.

If you've ever had to let go of a goal — by choice or not — this one's for you.

In this episode:

• Kate's decision to DNS Ironman California — the full story
• What burnout actually feels like when it meets a bad week
• The identity piece: if you're not training, are you still a triathlete?
• Girl Dinner: Would You Rather (rain vs. heat, goggles vs. shoes, and the great "train alone" debate)

DM us — we want to hear from you. 📣

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Two friends. Three sports. Zero gatekeeping.