Need recommendation for keeping warm in a cold pool

As someone who has spent nearly my entire life in the bottom 5% of BMI, I can empathize. I've never found a silver bullet, but there are some things that can help take the edge off:

1) Wear a thick silicone cap. It helps more than you might imagine.

2) Start warm. Yes, it makes the act of getting into the pool worse, but ultimately starting with a lower core temperature makes it harder to stay warm so stay wrapped up in a sweat jacket and sweat pants until just before you get into the pool.

3) Make sure you are well fueled. I'm not advocating swimming on a full stomach, but having consumed plenty of digestible calories several hours before working out can help make sure you have plenty of fuel. Shivering is actually a mechanism your body uses to warm up, but it takes energy. Make sure fuel is available.

4) Keep moving. Active recovery is better than standing at the wall. Do turn-to-turn swims in a deep lane where you start/stop each swim in the middle of the pool so you have to tread water between efforts. (Yes, this will challenge your aerobic system.) 

5) Don't do low-effort stuff like drills early in your workout. You will just get cold and miserable. Get in and do plenty of work to get your engine running. It is better to space brief periods of low-effort stuff among longer periods of effort. Long periods of low effort stuff area  recipe for getting cold and miserable.

6) Bring a thermos with a warm drink. Keep it at the end of the lane and sip little bits during workout. Just warm water or water with a little sugar in it is good.

7) Pick the most sunny lane, if there is one, and swim at the most hot/sunny time of day.

8) There is a mental aspect. Having a detailed plan of what you want to accomplish at the pool is good. I find that it keeps me focused on what I want to accomplish and less on the misery.

9) Complain to pool management. There is no reason a pool should be less than 80 F. That temperature is actually specified by several of the major swim racing governing bodies as ideal for competitive swimmers. I agree that for us skinny folks 82-83 is better, but you won't get any traction there. Nevertheless, below 80F is not defensible. I can typically suffer an 80F pool, but 77 is misery and I can't get a good workout and while I am not actively training now, when I do I have historically trained bloody freaking hard. Heat dissipation goes up radically with aspect ratio, so it is *much* worse for skinny folks. The ratio of surface are to volume also INCRESES as volume decreases so small folks, and especially children have it much worse. If kids (like < 13 y.o.) train in the pool, it should probably not be below 82 F.  

'hope this helps!

As someone who has spent nearly my entire life in the bottom 5% of BMI, I can empathize. I've never found a silver bullet, but there are some things that can help take the edge off:

1) Wear a thick silicone cap. It helps more than you might imagine.

2) Start warm. Yes, it makes the act of getting into the pool worse, but ultimately starting with a lower core temperature makes it harder to stay warm so stay wrapped up in a sweat jacket and sweat pants until just before you get into the pool.

3) Make sure you are well fueled. I'm not advocating swimming on a full stomach, but having consumed plenty of digestible calories several hours before working out can help make sure you have plenty of fuel. Shivering is actually a mechanism your body uses to warm up, but it takes energy. Make sure fuel is available.

4) Keep moving. Active recovery is better than standing at the wall. Do turn-to-turn swims in a deep lane where you start/stop each swim in the middle of the pool so you have to tread water between efforts. (Yes, this will challenge your aerobic system.) 

5) Don't do low-effort stuff like drills early in your workout. You will just get cold and miserable. Get in and do plenty of work to get your engine running. It is better to space brief periods of low-effort stuff among longer periods of effort. Long periods of low effort stuff area  recipe for getting cold and miserable.

6) Bring a thermos with a warm drink. Keep it at the end of the lane and sip little bits during workout. Just warm water or water with a little sugar in it is good.

7) Pick the most sunny lane, if there is one, and swim at the most hot/sunny time of day.

8) There is a mental aspect. Having a detailed plan of what you want to accomplish at the pool is good. I find that it keeps me focused on what I want to accomplish and less on the misery.

9) Complain to pool management. There is no reason a pool should be less than 80 F. That temperature is actually specified by several of the major swim racing governing bodies as ideal for competitive swimmers. I agree that for us skinny folks 82-83 is better, but you won't get any traction there. Nevertheless, below 80F is not defensible. I can typically suffer an 80F pool, but 77 is misery and I can't get a good workout and while I am not actively training now, when I do I have historically trained bloody freaking hard. Heat dissipation goes up radically with aspect ratio, so it is *much* worse for skinny folks. The ratio of surface are to volume also INCRESES as volume decreases so small folks, and especially children have it much worse. If kids (like < 13 y.o.) train in the pool, it should probably not be below 82 F.  

'hope this helps!

This is a great list! It has always surprised me how well a warm drink can actually help. 

tell me about it!!  there is no reason for pooltemps to be below 80.  it did mr in at nationals this summer. there are pools i will no longer compete in and the worst was the  pool at the NEM  championships.  terrible setting, officials and management don't listen to you so my comment to them is *** YOU!!!  incredibly moronic group.  i;ve been at this for 40 years and as i age , keeping warm is more difficult.  i'm 5'8,159 lbs. and 12% body fat.  pay attention you meet organizers.