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Actually, the ocean temperature in mid-September is usually a bit warmer than it usually is at this time of the year.  Water temperature is generally still about 70 even into about the first week of October (ocean takes a long time to warm up but also a long time to cool down again).  The ocean is unusually cold for this time of year- it was about 68 this weekend. 

The concern about swimming in the ocean in September, not to scare anyone, is the chance of there being a hurricane/tropical storm out in the Atlantic somewhere that would make the ocean too rough to safely swim in (a hurricane near the Atlantic coast of Florida usually means no swimming in Jersey due to the dangerous rip currents/waves).  This race director will not send anyone out into the ocean if it's not safe to swim.