chesapeake bay swim without a wetsuit?

Former Member
Former Member
i'm swimming in the chesapeake bay swim in about a month, and know most people will be wearing wetsuits. i don't have a wetsuit, and i don't want a wetsuit, but i don't want to be pulled out of the race 3 miles in, shivering, miserable, and maybe hypothermic. i'm planning to do some training swims in the 3 weekends i have left - and in new york, where it's a good bit colder. the coldest swim i've done (last fall) was 53 for 19 minutes without any pre-training. any advice would be appreciated... i expect to do the swim in about 2.5 hours.