Experiences in Cold Water - Ireland (LOOOONG)

“I just can't handle the cold”. Hi all, following the recent post about hypothermia, I had already been planning to write a longer piece on my experiences for information. As I said in the previous post, I found it hard to find good information on open water swimming when I started 2 ½ years ago, and my modus operandi is to suck up as much information as possible when doing anything new. So snipping some bits from the last post and adding lots more new. It's quite long so apologies. But since I'm not a natural, or very experienced swimmer, nor “built for it” I hope the detail makes it more useful. First, background which is key for the context: I live near the South Coast of Ireland. I'm 45yo male, and I'm fairly light (under 12 stone, about 74 kg) for Open Water. I've put on about 10 pounds muscle in the last year with very heavy pool training last winter/spring and maybe 5 or 6 pounds fat over the summer/autumn when training switched to the sea and the intensity went down. I've been swimming for about 2 ½ years here in Ireland. (I learnt basic swimming as a kid but only went first to the pool in spring 2006). I've been a surfer for about 10 years though so I assumed I had some strength and was also very comfortable in the sea obviously. Looking at the globe, we're obviously far north, on a level with Newfoundland, however the Gulf Stream warms (relatively) the Irish waters and our climate is fairly mild. Rarely cold in winter or hot in summer. Very,very cold winter temps are -5C/23F, the warmest summer temp I can ever recall here is 33C/91F (10 years ago). I don't recall a day above 24C/75C this year. I have often told surfers overseas that ocean water temperatures are similar to Northern California, requiring a 5/3mm wetsuit with boots, gloves & hood for surfing in winter, and a 3mm full suit in summer, for surfing. A significant factor in Ireland is the fairly constant wind which is prevailing southerly and often very strong, meaning onshore here in the south. Humidity is generally high which we don't notice as there's not much heat. When the wind shifts North or NE though, the two combined make the conditions ""raw". OK; another key factor are the actual Water Temperatures. For the South/South East, very warm water temperature, if we get them (which we haven't really the last 2 summers), would be 17C/18C i.e. 62.5F/64F. Or at least there were 4/5 days I recall this year that I swam here in those temps. There was no consistent period however at that level. But the last two summers here have been dreadful. We would have reached those regularly summers before. The SW is slightly warmer, maybe 1deg C, because it catches the Gulf Stream better. All around the North & East coast could be 2 deg C colder. Best regular water temps this year during August/Early Sept. were around 14C/57F in Tramore Bay, Waterford where I mainly swim. I often swim Sandycove in Cork more towards the SW, (one of the world's great swim locations) and often find the temp. can be a degree warmer. Typical south coast Winter water temp might drop down to 9C/48C, with 8C/46F common in the SE. That can vary a bit depending on wind direction again and occasionally rising cold currents. Oh, yes I almost forgot. Typical tidal range on the South coast is 5 metres. Gotta remember that for a lot of swims cause it means strong tidal currents at times and locations. I give all the context info partly because I think cold water swimming can be significantly different for everyone, but my feeling is that the biggest factors are body weight & size. Big/heavy = easier. But you need to understand your surroundings. Factors like wind direction and chill, air temperature, currents, etc. The most common problem I see with cold water is the fear. “I just can't handle the cold”. It is often a belief though, rather than an actual fear, at least when discussing it sitting in a warm room or pool.. Here's a point though: None (almost) of us like cold. I have met one swimmer who prefers it. It's just that it's something to deal with. For marathon swimming it often becomes THE thing. And an aspect of open water swimming that's often missed on this forum and others is the challenge, not the race. I'm almost never going to be the fastest (unless I choose carefully!). But I want to be the best I can be. For an average swimmer like me, it can be something that levels the playing field. I'm swimming against myself instead. I went for my first non-wetsuit swim in May 2006. I'd been in the pool about 6 weeks at that stage. I remember the tangible physical fear I had before getting in. I'm not exaggerating. I was almost hyperventilating prior to entry. My chest was heaving. However I know myself well enough that I generally handle physical fear by throwing myself into whatever causes it. An d I remembered, I've been a surfer. “Don't be a sissy”, I told myself. I guessed it was around a mile or so around the Island. I had no idea if I could make it out to the first corner of the island, about 300 yards away. I was wearing a sleeveless 1mm neoprene which I thought was a good intermediate step. I didn't know if I would drown or die of hypothermia. But it was warm sunny day, with no wind, and it wasn't too bad. Quick submersion and a sudden rise in adrenalin and I shot off for the first 50 yards but then I settled and it was OK. I made it to the first corner and decided to go another bit. I actually went around the island and was delighted. I think it took around 35 minutes. It's actually 1900 metres give or take depending on tide, I got dressed and don't remember recall suffering any cold after-effects. I wasn't sure how much the neoprene vest contributed to feeling OK. So it wasn't that big a deal in the end. That said at that time I was about a stone lighter than now and much less fit. But getting in the same time that day was another chap maybe a few years younger than me, with a body like a whippet. No body fat, ultra-fit. Maybe a serious tri-athlete? I took no notice but my girlfriend told me he made it about 50 yards before turning and getting out. I guess the shock was part of the problem. He didn't give it those few vital extra seconds to let the heart rate slow, but I guess he was also much more vulnerable to the shock. A few weeks later the local pool manager invited me out for a 1 mile sea swim, (Baile na Gall, Dungarvan). It was cold. Very Cold. No neoprene vest this time. Slow entry because it was low tide on a flat beach with stones underfoot. But it was OK a couple of minutes after I got going again. This time I noticed how hard it was to get my face in the water. I did the full swim and I think it took about 45 minutes. That was it for me. I found my new thing. For the first couple of months I had constant nervousness before swimming, thinking about the cold. I usually found it hard to put my face in the water each time. I got in fairly slowly trying to get used to it., splashing water on my wrists and neck (heat regulation centres, and sides, to accommodate the increased breathing). The rest of that summer had me in the sea weekly and I even did a few races (the 2 biggies, The Lee River Swim, and the Sandycove Island Challenge, both around 2K). As I said I'm a late starter so I'll never be the fastest. But I'm kind of obsessive (it's a joke among my friends/family) so I always want to know I'm doing my best at least and getting better. So I swim as hard as I can. After a couple of months I was getting used to putting my face in, and just getting in quickly, no splashing around. Of course the water was very gradually getting warmer. BTW, I do 95% of my swimming, pool & sea, by myself. I usually swim out of sight of anyone on the coast. That's a different subject I might write on. Where I sea swim locally there are lots of “polar bears”, i.e. the generally older people who get in for 5 to 10 minutes 7 months of the year. But I am the only current long distance swimmer. My local pool is a 20m pool and there are no coaches nor any Master's swimmers. I plugged on through the winter in the pool returning to the sea weekly last summer. My first swim last year was the end of April. Again, I recall the fear. 6 months in a pool. And now I was getting in earlier this year. The sand was so cold walking the 10 metres from my sandals to the water my feet were getting sore. I didn't take the temp but in retrospect I'm guessing 8 to 10C/46 to 50F. Yes, I now know that's a very wide temperature window. I planned a 10 minute swim if possible, with my girlfriend watching on the beach. There was swell that day with head high waves breaking on the beach. So I went from walking in wet to the knees, to covered instantly. Nothing could describe it. There was little to equate it to cold. It could just as easily have been fire or acid. All I knew was instant all-over pain. Pain in my sinuses. Fire all over my skin. My feet felt like the flesh had been flayed off the soles. Heart rate sky-high. I swam for...20 minutes. The first minutes was awful. The next 10 were really bad. The 10 after that were fine. All the pain disappeared except the soles of my feet which lessened but stayed present. I've never felt that fear to the same level again. Because I did it and got out. Ha, and I almost enjoyed it! May last year I attended a talk about the English Channel by a successful soloer and signed up to do a double relay this year. Then I started training properly. We got a coach, a legend in Ireland, who I'd travel to see every once few weeks for stroke improvement. She also gave us our training plans. I had gotten fairly fit but it turned out I was much worse swimmer than I thought. This was news because it meant I had a lot that I could do to improve. That work is still ongoing but I'm a better swimmer now. I doubt I'll ever be what I imagine though. This year I again got in without wetsuit in late April, but I had been swimming weekly (at coaches insistence) during the winter in the sea in a 3mm swimming wetsuit (as opposed to a heavier 5/3 steamer). By the middle of May I switched to training in the sea 5/6 days a week. Back then I was doing 40/45 minutes a day and trying to do a longer 2/3 hour (with wetsuit) once a week. I very gradually upped the time without wetsuit with the imperceptible increase in water temp. I no longer worried about it. This is HABITUATION. I have become somewhat inured to getting into cold water. I know it hurts for a few minutes. I know adrenalin will shoot my heart rate up. I also know it will settle and I will get used to it. I know it won't kill me. This is the big mistake many make. They think we don't feel it. I do. It just matters less. Of course I feel the same about other's swimmers capability as some feel about me. I met a guy I know by accident last weekend, river swimming in 7.5C/45.5F water. That seems too cold for me right now. It makes me feel like he is good at cold and I'm not. But he's much taller and heavier than me, meaning an overall greater heat retention. He did 35 minutes in that temperature. I'm sure it hurt him too though just as much as a 10C/50F hurt me. That's a point to remember. We all have capabilities and different limits Are we willing to find them? ACCLIMATIZATION is a different factor. Acclimatization says the more you train in cold water the better you will be able to tolerate it and the longer you will be able to stay in it. Personally I don't this factor is as strong as Habituation. After all, physics and the laws of thermodynamics are absolutes. One loses heat in water at 30 times the rate in air Heat loss is slower on sunny calm days You lose 30% of your heat through your head The ratio of heat loss is proportional to the volume and surface area, so larger bodies lose heat more slowly as the ratio of volume to surface area is increased. Fat is an insulator You lose heat unless you input sufficient heat energy Wind is your enemy As I said, yes, you get more used to being in, and you recognise your indicators better so you can push your limits more. You get better at preparing and recovering. Some much more experienced swimmers I know on long cold swims have learned to accept and bracket off the cold, realise it's there, know the efficiency is decreasing but at the same time know there can be a long gap between the early hypothermia indicators (unable to touch thumb to small finger) and remaining period during which much swimming can still be done. Last autumn I did an 8 mile tide assisted in Oct without wetsuit that took me 3 hours at 12 to 12 1/2 deg C./53.5 to 54.5F. I was expecting about a degree warmer. There were 14 swimmers some with wetsuits, some without. I was the thinnest without and the last out. It was quite cold at star for maybe 1 minute, I felt OK after a few minutes. I swam fine for the first 50 minutes, when I had my first food break (warm drink). My hands never regained full flexibility after that and gradually lost efficiency. My fingers were spreading at 1 hour, I had warm drinks about every 45 minutes. The last mile was horrible with wind against tide and I was really struggling. I was “Mildly Hypothermic” for 15 minutes after the finish. With help I was able to get dressed but I don't remember anything for those 15 mins though I functional. My girlfriend says I was coherent but speaking extremely slowly, taking seconds per work. Lots of layers and warm drink to warm up. I don't however recall any serious shivering but I'm not saying there wasn't. This was very valuable experience and information about my own limits. Had I done the same swim this year, I think I'd have checked the water temperature first. If it was the same...I'd have worn a suit, I'd learned what I needed. After retuning from the Channel late this summer, I bought an infra-red thermometer. I'm still swimming in the sea once or twice a week. This autumn/early winter I'm going to go as long as I can and monitor the sea temp and conditions and record my times and sensations to build up my own knowledge about my limits. Here's what I have currently, remember BASED ON MY BODY & EXPERIENCE: 18 C/64.5F : For me and most swimmers here on the South Irish coast, 18C is heaven and means never having to really worry about cold so one could swim up to one's training goals, (6 to 12 hours) 16 C/61F in the English Channel felt like the warm shower I have when I get home from sea training here. Great. 15 C/59F. In July this year I did a 5 hour swim in relative comfort (partly helped by warmer patches of maybe 16C/61F) with no warm drinks during the swim and no shivering after. But the wind was southerly. A week later I went to do a 6 hour in the same location but with a Northerly wind. The water was much calmer but I was out after 2 and ½ hours. 14C/ 60F is still OK. I can do 2/2 ½ hours training. From here down I'm generally training until just 5 or 10 minutes after the hand starts to spread. Any change of ½ a degree from here will be felt. 13C/55F is cool but I could train 1 ½ hours. 12C/54F is cool but I regularly did 50 minutes until 2 weeks ago. 11.8C/52.7F. Still between 45 and 50 minutes. More affected by sun & wind. 11.3C/52F. 45 minutes. Cold shock starting after getting in. Lasts maybe 75 metres. Feeling ok during middle of swim. Have started flexing hands on recovery to aid blood flow. 10.8C/51.4F. 40 minutes. Cold shock longer. Lasting up to 2/3 minutes. Cold in soles. No longer achieving complete comfort during swim. That's this week. OK, there are still some other items I haven't covered. THE EFFECTS OF COLD WATER; This is quite simple but if you really understand it, it explains a lot of other things. Without going through the figures for various stages of hypothermia, for regular cold water swimming, the important thing here is that as temperature decreases blood-flow changes. Blood circulation from the extremities to the core decreases, in order to protect the vital organs. The means the blood in the extremities, arms & legs will get colder than the blood in the core. PRACTICAL COLD EFFECTS. In order of occurrence for me. Cuts on feet and fingers. This happens me more in the spring/autumn. My feet will be numb and it's easier to cut them on barnacles/steps etc. getting in and out. Loss of hand co-ordination. This will start in the water. You can see your fingers turning white as the flood slows in your extremities to protect your core. This is normal. Your fingers turning white in water often happens well before losing strength. Shivering. Doesn't often happen me right after I get out. I have a friend who seems to start shivering before he gets in the water, and then he can swim for longer than me. Shivering though is OK. For me it usually starts when I'm already dressed. Teeth chattering. OK this happens when I'm colder than shivering. Chattering for me is usually accompanied by jaws also clamping shut. A weird combo. Shaking. At least this is how I describe it. More whole body shakes. If I'm at this stage, I'm usually back sitting in the car, heater going full blast, unable to drive. This can take half an hour to pass. After that it's just overall cold. This can take one to two hours to pass. Preparation: Stay warm as long as you can. Once changed into togs try not to spend too long posing for the looky-loos! You're losing heat. Better to do that while swimming at least. If you've got a bit of a walk to the water wear sandals as far as you can. Sand can get painfully cold on the feet in the winter and for me these are what suffer most. Cold will also mean more cuts on you feet that you won't notice 'til after. Drink. Warm is good but I rarely bother. At lower temps I'm not in long enough to worry about dehydration. On longer swims at 13/14C, i.e. 55 to 60F and up drink 500ml every 45 minutes. Caps. Latex is good. In winter I'll wear 1 silicon and 1 latex under it. Neoprene is good also. Ear plugs. Essential. I wear them year round while swimming here. Regular exposure to cold around the ears cause bone to grow over the ear cavity, eventually requiring drilling the bone out and impaired hearing. I know a surfer who this happened to so I'm really careful about this. I use silicon that cover the cavity, not the little plastic inserts. Cheap, easily replaced when you lose them due to cold fingers, and a custom fit every time. RECOVERY: OK, this is a bigger subject. But it can be reduced to a few simple rules. DO get dressed as quick as possible. Your temp continues to drop after you get out of the water. If there's wind, your hands will lose any remaining agility. I think 3 to 4 minutes. After that problems increase. Save anyone who want to talk to you because you're some kind of hero until you get something on. DON'T vigorously towel yourself “to get the blood flowing”. dry enough to drag your clothes on is good enough. DON”T douse yourself or have a quick shower. DO put on lots of layers. Make the lower layers thermal. I'm using Merino wool and microfleece as it's getting colder. Plus hat. Plus gloves. Now it's getting cold I've started wearing thermal Long Johns as well. DO have a hot drink. More the better. Warmth in your core. DO get out of the wind as soon as possible. Remember the effects. After a swim you have colder blood in your arms & legs. What you DON'T want to is cause this blood to QUICKLY flood your core, and possibly cause hypothermic cardiac shock. So you don't vigorously dry, or pour warm water or air over you. If you suddenly warm your exterior normal blood flow recommences and cold blood goes inward. I would only have an immediate after-swim dousing if the swim was less than 30 minutes duration above 14C/60F. In practice I don't worry about hypothermic shock because I don't swim into that much cold but I do try to be careful about rewarming, since I regularly end up being cold for a couple of hours. Sometimes though I've noticed I've forgotten something I shouldn't have have. I'm rarely sure whether this was caused by the cold or post swim excitement. Sometimes an hour or so after a swim I might go into a supermarket. Passing the fridges always makes me feel really cold again! Finally, I'm no expert on all this, this is just the story of the last 3 open water swim seasons for me. There are many better and more experienced swimmers than I am in the irregular Sandycove swimmers with their 8 successful Channel Solo swimmers. Nevertheless the purpose as I've said is to maybe help someone more like me. All the macho “the temperature is the temperature” stuff is a bit annoying. Some open water swimmers also like to play the “It's no bother, I'm harder than you” game. Everything is approachable with information and time and Information, as we used to say on the 'Net back in the early 90's, wants to be free. Regards Donal Ireland