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
Former Member
I did not get this old being stupid, if it's that cold - wear one & enjoy what we do!
if open water swimming were easy, smart people would do it too.
"Very very few people can swim in water in the mid 50s."
I`m 56 years old and I swim in water,....:groovy:
Seriously,..I have swam in 53 degree water for a half hour and enjoyed it,...yes, it stung at first, but soon, it was "pleasant",...ya gotta keep moving. In June, I`ll be swimming Alcatraz sans wetsuit.:fish2:
George
I enjoyed it,..I especially enjoyed getting out and taking a hot shower and then having a shot of scotch. The Ocean scares me. Sometimes it embraces me like a lover and other times it acts like it doesn`t know me. The smell of the water, its "abrasive" character, the sound of the waves and wind, combined with the color of the sky and the bite of the air makes for an otherworldy experience.....being alone with your thoughts is probably the scariest part of it all. Swimming,...the closest thing to flying.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ><>
I never trained in water under 60 degrees unless I had to. I raced in any temperature but could never say I enjoyed cold water. I was known as a cold water swimmer but did not like it.
Lake Ontario could be 70 degrees when I went to train by the time I got there it would be 60 and I would go in then an hour later it would be 55. Off shore breeze meant cold water.
When it was cold I would drive an hour or two to find warm water. Sometimes swimming in some pretty polluted water eg the Credit River just west of Toronto.
