Cold showers to acclimate to cold water swimming?

I recently saw an article recommending a process of taking progressively colder showers until after about four weeks you are using just cold water as a way to acclimate for cold water open water swimming. Does anyone have experience with using this method and if so how did it work for you? Yes. But cold baths are even better. Note that depending on the racing venues, there's a possibility that even your coldest home cold water won't match the temperature of the open water. A cold water bath will often be near 60deg, first half of Lac St-Jean's race is often swam in water near 55deg. In such a case, it's better to add some ice to the cold bath. I don't know if your question pertains to short OW events or full marathons. In the case of a marathon, this cold bath regiment is only beneficial for the psychological component. If a swimmer is due for falling in hypothermia, it will occur no matter what.

I recently saw an article recommending a process of taking progressively colder showers until after about four weeks you are using just cold water as a way to acclimate for cold water open water swimming. Does anyone have experience with using this method and if so how did it work for you? Yes. But cold baths are even better. Note that depending on the racing venues, there's a possibility that even your coldest home cold water won't match the temperature of the open water. A cold water bath will often be near 60deg, first half of Lac St-Jean's race is often swam in water near 55deg. In such a case, it's better to add some ice to the cold bath. I don't know if your question pertains to short OW events or full marathons. In the case of a marathon, this cold bath regiment is only beneficial for the psychological component. If a swimmer is due for falling in hypothermia, it will occur no matter what.