The closest I've come to an open water swim was a few years back when I was an adult leader at a boy scout camp. I joined in their mile swim. Their lake was really just a small trout pond, probably 200 yards wide. The swim was five across-and-backs. It was cold (it was in South Dakota, and the pond was fed by snowmelt runoff. Temp might have been about 70 degrees.) I was the only one to finish.
Recently I came across an upcoming 2.4 mile swim in northern Colorado. They say the water is usually 65-70 degrees at the time of year this is scheduled. They have both wetsuit and non-wetsuit divisions. I don't know why, but this one is calling me.
I do 4200 yards per day, 6 days a week. I do that in about an hour (or more often 1:05) including rests. I have no doubt I can do that non-stop (I actually have done that on a few occasions.) So I'm not worried about the distance.
But the cold! I just don't know what to expect. I don't want to use a wetsuit. (I don't want to put out the money for a one-time whim swim. And being 6'6", I wonder whether I would find a good fit anyway... I know nothing about wetsuits...) The pool I swim in usually has a water temp of 82-84 degrees. Once the temp was 79.1, and that was chilly but did not negatively impact my swim that day. (In fact, it was invigorating and I did one of my better swims that day.)
I seek voices of experience here. Will water that's 15 degrees colder than I'm used to sap all my energy? Am I wrong to assume that my ability to do the distance in a lap pool means that I can do it in a cold lake? Can I reasonably extrapolate my times from the pool in any meaningful way into an open water (fresh water) prediction of time? (For instance, I could guestimate that I might pick up a second per flip turn in the pool, so absent those 168 flip turns, maybe my open water swim might be 3 minutes longer or so.)
I'd love to hear from some people who've "been there, done that."
Parents
Former Member
Originally posted by Bobber
If it were me (hey, it will be me as I'm going to race a local 2 mile swim where water temps are expected to be in the same range - no wetsuits allowed), I would do some swim training in lakes of similar temp prior to the race. You can increase your tolerance for cold water. One year, I did 90% of my triathlon swimming in lakes and I kept swimming into late September when the lakes got down into the low 60s.
I wish it were that easy for me. You may find easy availability out there in the land of 999 lakes and all, but in Colorado the lakes are few and far between. I can't think of a single one in easy driving distance for me. (The lake in question is about 2 1/2 hours away from me.) Most "lakes" around here would be considered ponds or even puddles out your way. And rivers? Out here you can wade across almost any river -- if it's not dried up! :)
But seeing some of the replies in this thread has prompted me to be on the lookout for open water opportunities to test out myself beforehand if I'm going to do this event.
Originally posted by Bobber
If it were me (hey, it will be me as I'm going to race a local 2 mile swim where water temps are expected to be in the same range - no wetsuits allowed), I would do some swim training in lakes of similar temp prior to the race. You can increase your tolerance for cold water. One year, I did 90% of my triathlon swimming in lakes and I kept swimming into late September when the lakes got down into the low 60s.
I wish it were that easy for me. You may find easy availability out there in the land of 999 lakes and all, but in Colorado the lakes are few and far between. I can't think of a single one in easy driving distance for me. (The lake in question is about 2 1/2 hours away from me.) Most "lakes" around here would be considered ponds or even puddles out your way. And rivers? Out here you can wade across almost any river -- if it's not dried up! :)
But seeing some of the replies in this thread has prompted me to be on the lookout for open water opportunities to test out myself beforehand if I'm going to do this event.
