23 Jun 2019 - Thetis Lake Victoria BC - Swim for MS Wellness

Good luck! As for wetsuit or not, it's more a matter of how your cold tolerance is. A quick google search says you're looking at water temperatures in the upper 50's in the nearby sea (www.myweather2.com/.../climate-profile.aspx, so I would suspect the best case scenario in the lake is in the low 60s, but more likely upper 50s since the air temps are ranging from low 50s to low 60s. I know there are lots of tough, marathon open water swimmers who would find that invigorating in a speedo, cap and goggles, but I'd be in a wetsuit and, furthermore, I'd wear an insulated cap (such as www.blueseventy.com/.../thermal-skull-cap). I suspect most, if not all, of the participants will be in wetsuits. The race organizers should be able to give you a better sense what the water temperature is likely to be. I really admire this! You gave it an honest try and decided it's not for you - I love open water swimming so of course I'm going to encourage you to give it another try, but at the same time isn't so wonderfully freeing to be an adult and decide, "You know, this activity is just not for me" and never having to do it again if you don't want to? ETA: apparently I have no idea how to do a quote-reply. This was in response to the OP :)

Good luck! As for wetsuit or not, it's more a matter of how your cold tolerance is. A quick google search says you're looking at water temperatures in the upper 50's in the nearby sea (www.myweather2.com/.../climate-profile.aspx, so I would suspect the best case scenario in the lake is in the low 60s, but more likely upper 50s since the air temps are ranging from low 50s to low 60s. I know there are lots of tough, marathon open water swimmers who would find that invigorating in a speedo, cap and goggles, but I'd be in a wetsuit and, furthermore, I'd wear an insulated cap (such as www.blueseventy.com/.../thermal-skull-cap). I suspect most, if not all, of the participants will be in wetsuits. The race organizers should be able to give you a better sense what the water temperature is likely to be. I really admire this! You gave it an honest try and decided it's not for you - I love open water swimming so of course I'm going to encourage you to give it another try, but at the same time isn't so wonderfully freeing to be an adult and decide, "You know, this activity is just not for me" and never having to do it again if you don't want to? ETA: apparently I have no idea how to do a quote-reply. This was in response to the OP :)