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.
Former Member
I am doing the 1 mile without a wetsuit. It will be warm. You will roast in a wetsuit. Dave Barra is my hero!:smooch:
I'm doing the one mile too! What wave are you in? I'm in 4 (slacker to sign up this year). The current water temp today in the Bay is 69 degrees - brrrrr! Although this weekend is supposed to be pretty sweltering, so hopefully it'll warm up a little.
you may want to check this out... Thomas Point Bouy ... maybe hourly ;-)
some weather notes: yesterday, it got up to nearly 90 throughout the area, and then we had up to 4 rounds (depending on where you live) of nasty thunderstorms come through beginning about 3pm. the bay rose about 5 degrees through the day, then cooled off ~4 degrees with the rains, but rose again a bit through the night with the humidity.
it is supposed to be near 90 for the next several days, with the chance of thunderstorms. I doubt any rains will have the same intensity and effect as yesterday's rains, so i would anticipate that we should see a pretty dramatic end-of-week temperature rise.
Last year it was 75; I'd expect more of the same this year.
some weather notes: yesterday, it got up to nearly 90 throughout the area, and then we had up to 4 rounds (depending on where you live) of nasty thunderstorms come through beginning about 3pm. the bay rose about 5 degrees through the day, then cooled off ~4 degrees with the rains, but rose again a bit through the night with the humidity.
it is supposed to be near 90 for the next several days, with the chance of thunderstorms. .
might have to swim with an ice pack if this keeps up.
Hey Leonard! Nice to see you around the boards.
Mighty Minnow,
The water is always around 70-73. I get too hot when I used to wear my wetsuit. I have not worn it in any races for last year and most of the year before. You will do fine without it. Good luck!
Hi Swimmy- This is the first time doing the 1 mile challenge for me....I see the water temp is now over 70, I am bringing a wetsuit, but am not sure if I will wear it. The 2 times you wore the suit, do you recall the water temp? And the 2 times you did not wear it, what was the temp? I had heard that last year the water was quite warm and a friend of mine wore a wetsuit but wished she had not......I dislike cold water, but as you pointed out, once you start, the water temp becomes irrelevent....
Oh, what to do....what to do.......:dunno::help:
Hi Swimmy- This is the first time doing the 1 mile challenge for me....I see the water temp is now over 70, I am bringing a wetsuit, but am not sure if I will wear it. The 2 times you wore the suit, do you recall the water temp? And the 2 times you did not wear it, what was the temp? I had heard that last year the water was quite warm and a friend of mine wore a wetsuit but wished she had not......I dislike cold water, but as you pointed out, once you start, the water temp becomes irrelevent....
Oh, what to do....what to do.......:dunno::help:
Go without the wetsuit.
Our local outdoor pool was 70 degrees last weekend and my friend Mary swam for 1/2 hour in it. Mary has the least body fat of anyone I know and she didn't freeze. If she can do it, so can you.
-LBJ
Ok.....did my first OW swim; the 1 mile challenge and decided at the last minute to WEAR the wetsuit. Water seemed to be in layers, so was glad I wore one. Some places were warm, but at others it felt quite chilly. Since I HATE to swim in cold water, I think I made the right decision for me.
Very well run race; not sure how I feel about OW though, miss the lane line at the bottom. The bay was also filled with diesel fumes, so had trouble breathing at the start. Congratulations to all the swimmers that swam!
Ok.....did my first OW swim; the 1 mile challenge and decided at the last minute to WEAR the wetsuit. Water seemed to be in layers, so was glad I wore one. Some places were warm, but at others it felt quite chilly. Since I HATE to swim in cold water, I think I made the right decision for me.
Very well run race; not sure how I feel about OW though, miss the lane line at the bottom. The bay was also filled with diesel fumes, so had trouble breathing at the start. Congratulations to all the swimmers that swam!
It was a great day. The water was so warm. The diesel has been worse other years. I hardly noticed it this year. Maybe I am just used to the taste of the bay now. You will get used to not having a line on the bottom. Don't give up. Try other races.
:cheerleader:
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.
