Failed Triathlete!

In my late 30’s, I tried to become a triathlete....I failed. Also, possibly from the riding and swimming, weight training, and over eating, I reached the apex of weight in my entire life....I hit 192 lbs. this is just a picture from a 5K at that weight.
I learned to swim as a child in Lake Erie with my head up. Not the way to learn. Even becoming a certified life guard didn’t change that much at age 18. Anyway, I was reasonably competent on my red Fuji, and had the running background, but decided to enter a triathlon on a whim. 1K swim, 30K ride, 10K run. I practiced doing weekly bricks where I rode an hour and then ran an hour. The race I entered had a 2 lap swim of the perimeter of the lake. When you completed the application they seeded the swim start based on anticipated swim time. I purposely listed a slow swim time thinking I would catch people on the ride and run. Turned out to be a critical mistake. Swimmers were set off every 40 seconds in ten waves. I was in the 2nd last wave. While I was  standing there awaiting my start, I noticed the leaders were 2/3rds of the way around their first lap. The gun went off and I started leisurely swimming along. I got about half way around the lake on my first lap when people started swimming over me and  trying to drown me....had to fight thru people until I completed lap 1. Had taken on so much water and my bruised  and battered body was sore as hell.
I got out of the water and on the bike and started to push. Got to the run about mid pack. Once in the run, I probably passed about 60 people. Ended up in the top third, but when they adjusted time for your start group, ended up in the top 20%. But no where near the leaders in my age group. Attempted 2 other races where I seeded better for the swim, but never felt I was gonna dent the age group awards. So, at 39, I started upping mileage, dieting, and came into age 40 at my normal racing weight of 168.....