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.
I did the 4.4 mile without a wetsuit, and although I hit a few pockets of cool water, I was glad to be in just a swimsuit. I never regretted my decision, although it did occur to me while slogging across the bay that a bit of added buoyancy might have helped me out a bit. I just wish they'd divide the results into wetsuits v. no wetsuits - it doesn't seem fair to lump us all in together.
I agree - but if you check out the bay swim website (and lin-mark too), they make mention in several places that wetsuits are allowed and encouraged (for safety) and that this is NOT a USMS event.
I think they're coming around, as they do give out awards to the first man/woman non-wetsuit out of the water. But that doesn't give props to the rest of us. This was my first crossing w/o the rubber.
I did the 4.4 mile without a wetsuit, and although I hit a few pockets of cool water, I was glad to be in just a swimsuit. I never regretted my decision, although it did occur to me while slogging across the bay that a bit of added buoyancy might have helped me out a bit. I just wish they'd divide the results into wetsuits v. no wetsuits - it doesn't seem fair to lump us all in together.
I agree - but if you check out the bay swim website (and lin-mark too), they make mention in several places that wetsuits are allowed and encouraged (for safety) and that this is NOT a USMS event.
I think they're coming around, as they do give out awards to the first man/woman non-wetsuit out of the water. But that doesn't give props to the rest of us. This was my first crossing w/o the rubber.
