The open water discussion has been a little boring lately so time to add some controversy. The above quote was affixed to a plaque my swimmers gave me when I retired as Head Coach of the University of Denver Masters Swim Team. Yes, they knew where I stood on the subject. Others share my view. In my day job as a stock broker I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal “Wimp or Triathlete, You Probably Like That New Wetsuit" by Kevin Helliker, published on September 24, 1999. In it were several memorable quotes on the subject. "How pathetic, says Betsy Brennan a Lake Michigan swimmer" "When I see people in wetsuits, I think: wimp." Another Chicagoan Ted Erikson, who did a double crossing of the English Channel without a wetsuit, said on the increasingly use of wetsuit by swimmers in Lake Michigan. "I ask them, 'Why don't you just get a boat? Boats have heaters.”:D
i'm 52 yrs old. this summer i trained in lake michigan for an alcatraz swim. i wore a wetsuit and swam 3-4 miles a shot in a wetsuit in 59 degree waters in late may early june. i wore the wetsuit for warmth (along with the thermal cap). hell i was damn proud of myself and i sure in hell wasn't floating for 4 miles in those choppy waters, at least my arms and body didn't feel like i was floating! i'm a simple guy, and the wetsuit gizmo, is a little out of my sphere, but it kept me from turning blue and purple in lake michigan and prevented sudden cardiac arrest! those were great lake michigan swims. that's what it is all about for me.
i'm 52 yrs old. this summer i trained in lake michigan for an alcatraz swim. i wore a wetsuit and swam 3-4 miles a shot in a wetsuit in 59 degree waters in late may early june. i wore the wetsuit for warmth (along with the thermal cap). hell i was damn proud of myself and i sure in hell wasn't floating for 4 miles in those choppy waters, at least my arms and body didn't feel like i was floating! i'm a simple guy, and the wetsuit gizmo, is a little out of my sphere, but it kept me from turning blue and purple in lake michigan and prevented sudden cardiac arrest! those were great lake michigan swims. that's what it is all about for me.
