Colder Water Advice?

You will need a swim cap 1. for safety the event will require one. 2 for warmth. 65F is not too cold but getting there and a cap helps. For cold water swimcaps see this page www.geocities.com/.../coldwatercaps.html A good cap system keeps heat from leaving your head and works down to the water temps in the 50's with no wetsuit for a lot of swimmers. Plus there cheaper then a wetsuit. Also practice as much as you can in open water.

Thanks Peggy - love your website! I actually found a thermal cap by Tyr without the chinstrap (makes me GAG!), so I going to try that under my race cap with a short sleeve thermo rash guard. I am making as many trips to VA beach as my schedule will allow - the ocean's been pretty rough there this past month so we've had some good workouts! Wish me luck in Ptown!

It is possible to acclimitize to cooler water. Make sure your core body temeperature is toasty warm. jog, do some vigorous exercises before entering the water. Have your wetsuit on, cap and even a hat over your cap to maximize the warmth you generate. Drink warm fluids. A well fitted swim wetsuit should not require a rashguard. The wetsuit should be warm enough. Wetsuits come in differing degrees of warmth, try out different models if possible. I would be concerned about getting friction burns from the rashguard which are not pleasant during a swim. Get a pair of silicone ear plugs and swim in the training sessions with these. When cooler water gets into your ear, it can upset the vestibular apparatus in the inner ear causing dizzyness, nausea etc. They take a bit of getting used to but are well worth the effort. You may want to begin with wearing a pair of aqua fitness gloves, even neoprene socks until you are comfortable. Take them off once your body is warm (When that face ache is gone!!). You want to keep the extremeties warm and depending on your circulation (Raynauds suffers should especially begin this way) keep them warm. Enter the water without getting your head wet. Giant stride if off a dock. NEVER dive. Sometimes swimmers will react to the cold water, it's called a Vaso Vagal reaction. This results in shortness of breath, hyperventilation, and can also cause an irregular heart beat. Jump into the water, scull and run (vertically). After 30 secs, lean forward and put your face in for a few seconds. Come back to vertical. Repeat until your body has adjusted to this temerature and you can do a few strokes and breathe comfortably. In the beginning this process can take a few minutes so be patient. Get into the water and gradually increase the time you can comfortably swim. Try and extend it by drinking warm fluids, in a gulp and go style! Don't take long breaks. Your support crew and you should work out times and hand signals for communication. 65 degress is cool but is quite swimable even without a wetsuit if a person is trained. It also depends on your body make up. Some swimmers are more able to adapt to cooler waters. Once used to 65 degrees, find an even cooler body of water. Do some swimming in this. I have found that even though the water is 'supposed' to be 65 degrees, with currents and tides it can be cooler in places. It's good for your mental training too as you know that now 65 is good, and you can even handle less. Keep the big muscles working efficiently, stay relaxed and focused. Don't let the negative thoughts of 'cold' distract you from accomplishing your goal. Stay positive, swim strong and efficiently. If you are getting cold, shiverring and become uncomfortable, STOP. IF you are cold and not able to shiver, or are having difficulty getting a proper breath that's trouble. Hypothermia is nasty, believe me! Stop before you have to be hauled out, and congratulate yourself for doing a good job. It's probably the furtherest you have ever swum in that temperature! You will do well. Good Luck. It's a great challenge and will be a rewarding experience! Kiwi

Peggy, wow! What a picture! 65 degrees is cold water. In my opinion anything in 50s is unbearibly cold water.

MAC Swimmer. Check the page about the cold water caps above in my post and down the page you will see links to Dolphin club and SERC. There both swim clubs in San Francisco Ca. The bay there is about 55-60 year round and these people swim year round sans wetsuits and only a cap. 55 is cold I agree!

I just did a swim in Morgan Bay, Maine (next to blue hill) this past week with just a speedo. I'd hazzard the water was ~60 degrees. Burr. I think the most important thing is to keep swimming - that will keep you warm. Try thinking about something non-temparature related. For me, thinking of the warm sun to bask in when I got to my island destination was NOT doing me any good. :FISH2: