How Cold is Too Cold to Swim?

It's a very personal preference, but my rule of thumb is that 84º Fahrenheit is a nice cutoff point.

I've swum in Lake Michigan when in was in the 50s, no wetsuit, and while it is possible to survive it OK, I think you're more focused on how cold you are than anything regarding your stroke or training. Personally it would have to be at least upper 60s for me to get myself to do that regularly.

84 degrees?????  is that when it is too hot to swim in?  if a pool is higher than 82 i am over heating after one minute.

without a wetsuit you can easily swim in low 70 degree water.  with a wetsuit would be lower.   when i was in high school our pool heater broke for 2 weeks and we were swimming in mid to high 60 degree water.   that i dont recommend, unless you have a fair amount of body fat.  It was too cold.

I agree. Our local pool is kept at 78 and that is too warm...I will get in the lake as soon as it is 55 degrees with no wet suit.

A few degrees makes a huge difference in water. I am a swim coach at a high school and we must keep the water between 78-82 for meets to be offical. I prefer around 84 or so myself but I must admit that when the water is in the 80 degree range I think I swim faster. If the water gets much below the 78 level I don't think my muscles work as well. I have swam in the pool at 72, when the heater went out, and I didn't like it at all. I needed a wetsuit.

I use a wetsuit for most all my ows but agree with a poster above that it is highly variable from person to person.

I doubt you would enjoy swimming in the 50s without a wetsuit. In a full wetsuit 63 and below is chilly to start and often I get that ice cream type headache and my hands go numb. You live in TX so I'm guessing that your cold tolerance is different than many on BT who live in the Northern states.

If you want to get swimming in earlier when water is cooler, buy a cheap wetsuit. Xterra often sells one of their models with 50% discount so it's about $100.

Thats a great question, and I agree with the other posters that the variances in tolerance are as broad as the number of people being asked.

I, for one, have found that my tolerance for cold water has dropped over the years. Ive lost a few pounds too, so maybe that makes a difference. If I'm swimming in 82 degree water, I feel just about right, but drop it to 78, and I dont want to go in!!! End up wearing a speedo top....in fact, I recommend that for water that might be a tad too chilly - the kind that makes you "dread" the first 5 minutes of a workout...wear a wetsuit top, or simple swim top, and it will take the edge off of that first blast in the water....it's just enough to encourage you to keep to your workouts without begging off. Also, wearing a swim cap helps...I hate that "cold ear effect" when going in the first 5 minutes.