Hi Dr.
I somehow missed your post.
Yes, the group swimming part is definitely a PITA, the rest is just riding and running
Now that you have tried it it will be hard to quit.
I did a Superprint on saturday as a training for next month's Sprint, so it was 300 m (330 yards) swim, 10 km (6 mi.) ride and 1,5 km (1 mi.) run. I got disoriented in the swim and ended up losing my way and doing more distance than required, got passed on the bike as I had a mountain bike and the rest had road bikes and then was too tired to even think of running fast. I finished in the bottom 10% but the experience was really worthwhile.
Now I need to train hard so I can finish the Sprint which means more than doubling the distances.