Open Water Workouts

Hi guys,
first of all, a big thanks for TI, for opportunity to learn how to swim better. I've been fallowing TI technique for about 2 years now.
So, Im from a poor Country, and there is no pool to train and no school that teach's swimming. So the only way to train is in the open water with my buddy.

The good thing is that the water is always warm, all year long baby even when the temperature is a bit cold. Just put a cap and its all good to go.

My main objective in training is to compete for open water events held in my country (A few international guys and girls participated).
Last year I competed (for the first time) in 2.5km event. And finished 14th with 45mn'55seconds. The first place finished with 30'12 (he was a international dude).

I really apreciated all the efforts the the TI team put into teaching the techniques from the Dvds.

So guys, i hope you can share your knowledge on, how can I train better.
At this point:
- We go to the beach 3 times per week.
- 3 times per week to the gym.

The swimming:
- we warm up with the drills from TI.
- 2 times per week(Tuesday and Thursday), the main set, is to swim 5x300meters (I measure it with Canmore GT-740FL).
- And on Sundays we swim 2.5km (measure with the buoy at the beach), or we do some speed training, with the distance of main set.

Thank you guys. If you can help us it would be really good.

PS: I dont know if its possible to upload images. But if yes, i can put here the images from the GPS and the beach's where we train and compete. Maybe you can come can compete too.