COLD Open Water Swim Tips Sought
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![]() | ![]() Did my first open water swim in Aquatic Park for Escape from Alcatraz, 49 degree water, 52 air temp. God, I love my tri wetsuit, booties & neoprene cap! Water was stinging cold on face & hands, but not as completely paralyzing as I feared. What DID make me freeze up was the OPENness...no security blanket of a pool bottom or wall. I was able to overcome this a bit by swimming from buoy to buoy, holding on for a few seconds just to reassure my anxiety. But, my apprehension definitely interfered with my ability to swim efficiently. I took it slow and tried to relax, but felt like I was flailing unnecessarily, being too tense and wasting a lot of energy. I realize that more time in COLD open water will help, but comments on the tips below or any other tips are appreciated. - Wear a swim cap UNDER your neoprene cap and then your race color latex cap over all that for optimum warmth. Plus, it'll keep your hair relatively dry...dripping long hair gets in the way and makes you colder during the transition. - Ear plugs keep you warmer by keeping the cold water out of your ear canal. I've also read that it can actually help prevent vertigo, rather than cause imbalance. I'm prone to motion sickness, so they actually help me with the wave rocking. - I took a luke warm shower with my wetsuit on to get a layer of water under the suit. If you go in dry, your body will have to divert comfort and energy to warming up the cold water layer that initially seeps in during water entry. I was thinking of doing the same on the ferry by pouring tepid water inside my wetsuit several minutes before jumping in. - Practice sighting in the pool!!! I didn't, and drank a lot of sea water as I asked my muscles and coordination to try something new in the freezing cold. - Tinted goggles. The sun will be rising from the east, blinding you each time you breathe, if you prefer breathing on your left side, as I do. - Constantly open and close your fingers to keep the blood circulating. After I got out of the cold water, my hands were frozen fixed in a semi-claw position. I couldn't even unzip my wetsuit for a couple of minutes. I haven't done it yet, but am planning on jumping off the side of a pier to simulate the jump off the ferry. I heard that you should hold your goggles in place, but will jumping with ear plugs cause unpleasant head pressure? While you won't have this luxury during the race, it was nice to have an oversized jacket or blanket to drape over yourself immediately after coming out of the water...this was the coldest part of the session. Hot tea in a thermos also helps immensely with the defrosting. Edited by Victoria94530 2013-01-17 12:45 PM |
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![]() Sounds like you have all the good tips Oh, and get away from the boat ASAP. You will sink quite a bit, but pop up fast with the neoprene. Last time I did it woman behind me landed squarely on my kidney as I popped up. Don't want to be in the splash zone for very long, try jumping off to the side. |
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Sensei ![]() | ![]() Good tips but if I were to add anything. Don't get worked up about it. Just jump in and swim. Maybe I'm better at cold water than others, but Alcatraz and IMAZ, the water get's pretty cold. Yeah, it sucks the first 5 minutes, but after you get swimming, I think it feels fine (full wetsuit on though). |
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() As you probably know the Dolphin Club and SERC clubs in San Francisco both have lots of swimmers who are "skins" sans wetsuits and a warm swim cap is needed. Using a regular latex or silicon cap over a neoprene cap is pretty standard but thats a really tight fit and hard to put on, much easier to wear over top of the neopreane caps are the bubble caps or forget the neopreane and wear a silicon cap under a bubble cap which has a much less restricting and chafing strap then the neopreane, you will see some of these bubble caps on swimmers in Aquatic Park like the famed "El Sharko". You might want to join one of these two clubs as they have lots of activities and fun. Their clubhouses are publicly owned so I think membership is open to the public or for a daily paid fee to use their warm shower facilities. Both of these clubs offer some of the best "English Channel" training grounds in the USA and many visitors go there for a month or two to train for a channel swim, plus you will get all the best advice on the open water swimming sport in cold waters. see this page for details on many cold water cap ideas. http://openwatercaps.blogspot.com |
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![]() | ![]() Kido - 2013-01-17 11:57 AM Good tips but if I were to add anything. Don't get worked up about it. Just jump in and swim. Maybe I'm better at cold water than others, but Alcatraz and IMAZ, the water get's pretty cold. Yeah, it sucks the first 5 minutes, but after you get swimming, I think it feels fine (full wetsuit on though). Lots of good tips here. The only thing I'd add, and maybe this is too obvious but it's not mentioned so far, start warming yourself up well from the inside before you jump in. Move, lots, to get your blood pumping before you hit the water. Good luck and have fun! |
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Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I will be jumping in the freezing water on march 3rd as well! What type of booties does everyone suggest? I got a pair of neoprene ones that filled with water and felt like water balloons on my feet. I really want to get something soon so that I can practice swimming with them on. There just doesn't seem to be that many options out there... or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place. |
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Expert ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Good tips. I swim in those temps a lot on the Central Coast and have gained a few other ideas. Cap/neoprene/cap is often known as the "cap sandwich" promoted by Emilio DeSoto. I've taken it a step farther, and wear two (!) neoprenes when it's dipping toward the 40s. In the swim season, I have a cap layer v. temperature scale in my head. Of course the most obvious tip is to practice OWS in cold water. I made a point of getting in the water before Oceanside, and although the high 50s drew endless complaints at the race, I might have been the only person who said it felt warm. That said, this year I think I'll bring an insulated bottle of hot water to squirt into the wetsuit before swims. The ear plug thing is a matter of personal preference. Some people love 'em and say they're essential, but I don't get an advantage with heat loss, and don't like the sensory effects. One tip I'd add is a favorite that I just remembered this weekend in my chilly backyard pool: exhale. It might just be me, but I'm a lot better in the cold water if I make a point of exhaling forcefully. This helps me find my stoke and confidence quickly. Fun stuff! I haven't been in the ocean since the time change, and lust after the Water World Youtubes from the Aquatic Park. Love it. Absolutely love CA OWS, no matter how cold! |
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New user![]() | ![]() Those tips are really helpful! I will participate this year escpae from Alcatraz too. but this is my first time to swim in a very cold water like that. I will prepare the wetsuit and the neoprene cap. Do you think the neoprene socks are MUST? or barefoot is still ok?
Thank you very much! |
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Expert ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() chiningle - 2013-01-27 11:48 AM... Do you think the neoprene socks are MUST? or barefoot is still ok?
Booties are personal preference, like ear plugs. I'd try them to see how they feel. Most people don't use them (I don't) but that doesn't mean anything. Aside from doing a few miles in the water to make sure you're comfortable, it's most important to have the right caps for you, and to make sure they cover your forehead really well since that's a major source of heat loss. Pull the caps low, to your eye brows, just shy of the goggles, but make sure you don't create a leak with a cap under a goggle seal. The back of your head is a lot less important. |
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New user![]() | ![]() Thank you very much for your advice! currently I don't have place to train the cold open water swimming. all I can do is swimming more and try to take cold water shower... |
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Extreme Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() OK, nobody has thrown in the obvious one. Pee in your wetsuit before you jump in. ![]() |
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Regular ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I found that the booties helped for the first few minutes but after that my feet were just as cold without them as they were with them on. So for my races I just have went without them. Perhaps for me the only advantage of booties would be I don't have to walk barefoot which is tough for me to do. |