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
Very funny Guvnay, if only that was what it was all about . . . here's a blurb that explains:
Strong currents wreak havoc with the 2003 Waikiki Roughwater Swim
By Timothy Carlson
Senior correspondent
This report filed September 18, 2003
The 34th Waikiki Roughwater Swim, a 2.4-mile competition that became one of the blueprints for the original Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon, was hit by vicious ocean currents Labor Day. In conditions locals called the "worst ever," 590 of 947 entrants did not finish the race. Of those, 361 required ocean rescue, according to Honolulu Coast Guard officials.
Plowing through swift currents that made an unprecedented 60-percent of the field quit, Australia's Grant Cleland won the September 1 race in a record-slow time of 1 hour 4 minutes and 25 seconds -- about 16 minutes slower than an average winning time. Further, a record-low 357 swimmers managed to finish the 2.384-mile swim from Sans Souci Beach to Duke Kahanamoku Beach in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village hotel. The slowest finisher, Joseph Nagi of Kailua, Hawaii, competing in the male 65-69 division, fought the currents and managed to finish in 3 hours 22 minutes.
"This was the strongest current we have had in 34 years," Ted Sheppard, Waikiki Roughwater Swim Committee president, told the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper.
The National Weather Service reported that it was not certain if any connection could be made between nearby Tropical Storm Jimena and the water conditions.
Hawaii state senator Fred Hemmings, a former surfing champion and surf-contest promoter, told the Advertiser that the event began at a time, 9 a.m., when the tide was changing. "The best time would have been either 7:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m.," Hemmings noted, "but instead the weaker swimmers got caught in the worst part of the outgoing tide."
Six-time Ironman Hawaii champion Dave Scott won the Waikiki Roughwater Swim in its early years before he took up the sport of triathlon. Ironman founder John Collins handed Scott a flyer about the Ironman on the beach at Waikiki after Scott had competed in the Roughwater.
Very funny Guvnay, if only that was what it was all about . . . here's a blurb that explains:
Strong currents wreak havoc with the 2003 Waikiki Roughwater Swim
By Timothy Carlson
Senior correspondent
This report filed September 18, 2003
The 34th Waikiki Roughwater Swim, a 2.4-mile competition that became one of the blueprints for the original Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon, was hit by vicious ocean currents Labor Day. In conditions locals called the "worst ever," 590 of 947 entrants did not finish the race. Of those, 361 required ocean rescue, according to Honolulu Coast Guard officials.
Plowing through swift currents that made an unprecedented 60-percent of the field quit, Australia's Grant Cleland won the September 1 race in a record-slow time of 1 hour 4 minutes and 25 seconds -- about 16 minutes slower than an average winning time. Further, a record-low 357 swimmers managed to finish the 2.384-mile swim from Sans Souci Beach to Duke Kahanamoku Beach in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village hotel. The slowest finisher, Joseph Nagi of Kailua, Hawaii, competing in the male 65-69 division, fought the currents and managed to finish in 3 hours 22 minutes.
"This was the strongest current we have had in 34 years," Ted Sheppard, Waikiki Roughwater Swim Committee president, told the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper.
The National Weather Service reported that it was not certain if any connection could be made between nearby Tropical Storm Jimena and the water conditions.
Hawaii state senator Fred Hemmings, a former surfing champion and surf-contest promoter, told the Advertiser that the event began at a time, 9 a.m., when the tide was changing. "The best time would have been either 7:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m.," Hemmings noted, "but instead the weaker swimmers got caught in the worst part of the outgoing tide."
Six-time Ironman Hawaii champion Dave Scott won the Waikiki Roughwater Swim in its early years before he took up the sport of triathlon. Ironman founder John Collins handed Scott a flyer about the Ironman on the beach at Waikiki after Scott had competed in the Roughwater.
