How cold without a wetsuit?

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:19:48 GMT

Head up front crawl is very hard to do. Did you have a swim cap on? You could have worn two caps. If you were in a wet suit you could have made a little beany out of neoprene and soaked it in warm water then a swim cap on top would help retain the heat. Most heat loss is through the head. So keep the head warm.

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

knelson — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:06:00 GMT

I was unable to put my face in the freezing cold water I'd say this pretty much sums up that everyone's a little different. There are some people who can handle swimming in the 40s sans wetsuit, and others who consider 71 to be "freezing cold!" :)

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:14:24 GMT

The gasping is caused by the vagus nerve in the nose. You can minimize this response by leaving your face out of the water until you've warmed up with at least five minutes of head-up swimming. I find it also helps to get back on shore for a few minutes after that initial warmup swim, recover a bit from the shock of the cold, then get back in. When I get in for the second time the water feels so much warmer. I had to do the entire 1000 meter swim with my head up! This was because I was unable to put my face in the freezing cold water since I kept hypervenilating . Maybe if I hadn't tried to put my face in the water right away, I would have gotten used to the water and wouln't have hypervenalited so much! :drown: I never thought of swimming with my face up for 5 minutes. thanks for the tip :agree:

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:47:35 GMT

I would definately get a wetsuit! This may be just me since I am really sensitive to the cold, but I did a swim in a 71 degree lake which made me start hypervenilating. I can normally swim fine in lakes, but as soon as I put my face in this freezing lake, it took my breath away. I would have not even been able to even stand swimming in a lake much colder. To have a more comfortable expirence, definatly get the wetsuit- especially if your lake is going to be a lot colder!

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:05:11 GMT

...I can normally swim fine in lakes, but as soon as I put my face in this freezing lake, it took my breath away... The gasping is caused by the vagus nerve in the nose. You can minimize this response by leaving your face out of the water until you've warmed up with at least five minutes of head-up swimming. I find it also helps to get back on shore for a few minutes after that initial warmup swim, recover a bit from the shock of the cold, then get back in. When I get in for the second time the water feels so much warmer.

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Muppet — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:56:57 GMT

Another thing to consider is the air temp and weather forcast for your swims. At the Chesapeake Bay Swim this past weekend, water was supposedly 73 degrees (felt a bit warmer), but the sun was HOT and beating down at 90+ air temps. To use the imagery of one of my teammates, she felt like a hot sausage in her wetsuit. Most wetsuiters reported similar feelings. I went with the speedo (earning Mr. Chaos' OW Swimmer Seal of Approval), and the cool water, even in the colder shipping channel, felt great.

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:58:09 GMT

Right now in CT, Long Island Sound is in the high 50s/low 60s and it's quite comfortable without a wetsuit. I could probably swim comfortably until it was about 55 degrees. After that I would want to consider a wetsuit.

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:39:19 GMT

Interested to read. I've never worn a wetsuit before because the water here in HI doesn't get way too cold. If the air's cold though (dropping below 75), I don't like to get in, but will most of the time, especially if it actually feels better in the water and the motivation to swim is in me. I guess I would try colder water if it would be the only other time to experience it, but if not, forget it. I don't know how you guys do it. :) I am such a wus. Does a wetsuit really keep you that much warmer and what about other parts of the body that are not covered?

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:02:59 GMT

The USAT rules which work for me since as a native Floridian, I hate cold water. 72-78 Wetsuits allowed 78-82 optional above 82 prohibited

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

gemich — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:44:27 GMT

cantwait4bike Another way to approach this without the vaseline which is a God awful mess is to double up on caps (wear a neoprene and a silicon cap) and to drink something warm before you get in and after you get back out to jump start the rewarming process (I normally drink hot ginger tea in the morning with breakfast on swim days and then fill a thermos up with hot Cytomax - an electrolyte replacement energy drink - to drink on my drive down to the water). It's also not a bad idea to wear a wool stocking cap in the morning before you get in the water to conserve body heat.

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

cantwait4bike — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:28:30 GMT

I have a very low body fat and get cold just looking at snow, do any of you use a grease or vaseline on your body when you swim?

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:58:41 GMT

All the Marathon swimmers piled on Lanolin and Vaseline. I found I only needed it under the armpits, around the crotch area where the trunks rubbed, around neck creases and on the chin and my shoulders where the whiskers rubbed. I have a very low body fat and get cold just looking at snow, do any of you use a grease or vaseline on your body when you swim?

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:46:16 GMT

High 40's would be real cold. San Francisco bay swimmers swim in 50's water all the time with no wetsuit. Easiest thing to do is wear a cap for cold water like they do , then you can go in sans suit. www.geocities.com/.../coldwatercaps.html

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:35:40 GMT

After a summer of lake swimming I can get down to 53 (no wetsuit of course!) for close to an hour but I would not be able to start at that temp in the spring after a winter in the hot pool. If you have been swimming outside all winter then you might be able to start with a pretty low temp. It is all in the acclimatization, as I think someone said above. Good luck!

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:18:35 GMT

Thanks for everyone's input. I was going to wait until the water temp was 50 but the air temp today was quite warm (80 deg) so I decided to go for it and swam in the 47 deg ocean. I was only able to last for a mile until I started to get too cold, but it's a start. Yeah baby!

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Animal — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:07:35 GMT

Paul, I am an open water swimmer who lives in Colorado. I have swam without a wetsuit at 49 degrees, while not as enjoyable as one could have it. There were three of us who swam that day. We all were training to swim the English Channel. This swim made me feel very much alive. I have also swam at 10,000 feet in a lake that had snow melting into it. I am not sure of the temp, but my chest was tingling the whole 30 minutes I was in it. Care must be taken swimming at anything below 55 degrees. Make sure you know the signs of hypothermia. The one I always look for is not remembering a phone number that I have known nearly all of my life.

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:08:11 GMT

We were not allowed to wear wet suits in any race, no matter what the temperature was. The coldest race I ever raced in was 38F. The races I swam in were generally 50f to 65F Lake Ontario to 90F Egypt. Differrent temperatures in all other places. There were no races less then 10 mlies most were twenty to 30 miles long. I tried not to train in water under 60F which to me is the perfect temperature to swim, most other swimmers would get out in low 60F water temperatures after about two hours. Now I only swim open water in the ocean and the temperature where I swim OW is 75 to 80F.

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Rob Copeland — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:53:21 GMT

Paul, 50 degrees (salt water) is about when I would get in when I was training for cold water swims, without a wet suit. If it got much colder than that, I wasn’t able to stay in for more that about 30-45 minutes. At 50 degrees I was good for at least an hour.

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:12:06 GMT

My rough rules of thumb: If the water temp is 65+ degrees, no problems. If it's 60-65, you will need some (1-2 sessions) adaptation. If it's

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Former Member — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:01:17 GMT

Yes I know I should be swimming with someone but unfortunately I could find no one that was willing to swim with me throughtout the winter, for some reason everyone thinks it's too cold. Anyway it's more extreme when I'm out there alone. I was only able to last about 1/2 hour below 40 degrees. But now that it's in the upper 40's I can last longer. I know I'm a little extreme but I swim straight out otwards this island called egg rock until I get too cold then I turn around and head back in. In a few days when the water hits 50 I'm going to try without a wetsuit but I'll swim along the shore until I can find my limits.

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Rykno — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:09:35 GMT

I think anything under 65 is too cold with out a wetsuit. but the window between 65-70 depends on the weather. if its sunny and calm then i could go with out under 65, but it if it's windy and cloudy it tends to make the surface water feel colder. according to one race home page. they suggest 60F-63F no more than 95 minutes in the water. 63-65 no more than 110 minutes over 65 125 minutes was written but not sure if the upper limet to that timeframe was 68 or 70 or no top level.

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

MikeGarr — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:23:31 GMT

Everyone is different.... I put on the wetsuit if the water is below 65F. I can't imagine swimming without one at 50F. I also wear booties below 60F, and I limit myself to 20 minutes exposure when it gets to 55F. I assume you are swimming with a buddy, and not alone, and monitoring each other for hypothermia.... slurred speech, etc. I want to know how you find someone to swim with at those temperatures. ... Just curious. You guys might call me a wimp, but I'd say I am being properly cautious. I am interested to see what other people think about 50F as a cut-off. Ciao,

RE: How cold without a wetsuit?

Muppet — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:19:31 GMT

For me, depends on the distance and body of water. Though I don't think I'd ever do a 1mi swim with a wetsuit unless the water was really chilly!! I've done the Chesapeake Bay 1mi swim several times in a speedo... but the 3x I've done the 4.4mi crossing, I've used a wetsuit. The base temp at the shore is very different from the temp in the bay itself -- probably 3-3 1/2 miles of the crossing! I always do the Reston Masters Lake Swims w/o a wetsuit - though those are always really nice, hot days and the cool 73-75 degree water feels awesome! The water hardly changes temperature there.