Kevin and I once tried to swim in the ocean in March... that time I wore dish gloves to try to keep my hands warm. We lasted about 60 seconds.
You may have picked up on my eagerness for the open water after some of my posts last week... the "Call of the Ocean", as Kevin likes to refer to it, has been strong.
Unfortunately, Batchelor Bay is FREEZING (well, not literally, but close...) as you can see from the chart below. (Halibut Bank is the closest Marine Data Buoy).
9°c is 48.2°f.... that's pretty freakin' cold. They cancelled the swim at World Championships last year because the temp was 12°c and people were getting hypothermia.
Any triathlete knows that when faced with any problem in training the "fourth discipline" is the answer.... no, not nutrition.... SHOPPING!
New Blue Seventy socks and a thermal swim cap. As always - CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTOS!
These socks are awesome.... and I can wear them both on one foot making them even warmer.... who ever said there was no silver-lining to being an amputee?
See how the chin strap fits my 11 month old son... didn't bode well for the fit on his dad...
More equipment... these are A LOT warmer than the dish gloves but they are pretty heavy. It's like lifting weights and swimming at the same time.
Where the hell is Kevin? I hope nobody sees me taking pictures of myself...
Kevin donning his new socks....
Batchelor Bay is pretty spectacular.... I would like to own that house on the right and dive off the rock for a swim every morning.
Time to get in....
And post-swim...
We lasted about 30 minutes. The cap and socks were GREAT. The gloves were super heavy but maybe if I tuck them under the cuffs it'll be better. The hardest part was putting my face in the water - I did a fair amount of backstroke and breaststroke during the first 400-500 metres just to keep my face out of the water. Once my face adjusted (sort of) I still had a hard time with my teeth getting painfully cold...
There was a bit of slurred speech and uncontrollable shivering upon exit but for the most part we were pretty good. With all this coldness I didn't even notice the chin strap being too tight.
Home for breakfast. Finally stopped shivering.
There are few better ways to start your morning than swimming in the ocean - even when it is that cold. I think we'll try again next week - hoping for double digit temperatures!
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10 comments:
Your swimming scenery is gorgeous.
Here's hoping for some warmer temperatures to come.
Soooo choked with you two ...
you are friggin nuts
Beautiful and waaaay too hardcore for me. If I need a freakin real hat, I'm OUT! Nice work and it was nice to hit some warm open water this weekend with just a suit (just how I likes it)!
I like the glass of wine swim cap photo.
And your nuts
dude... that stuff is insane. I cant do any lower than 52 degree water ... on a sunny day.
What surfers on the east coast do in the winter is put 1. hot water in their wetsuits, and 2. vaseline on their faces to prevent face shock. might be worth considering!
I thought about the vaseline but didn't think it would be necessary. Sounds so messy too....
I think a mouthguard would help the teeth problem.
There comes a point when maybe it's a bit too cold. That point could be when your face is covered with vaseline and you are wearing a mouthguard to keep your teeth warm....
Thanks for all of your comments!
dude you are nuts...i've swam in 10-11 degrees before (last year) and that was just about death (i had booties but no hat)... but going in under 10 degrees, good for you, that is brave!!! Still about 1.5 months away from open water season in southwestern Ontario:)
Wow! That a picture perfect place to swim! Except it's colder then the ice water I'm drinking right now! Congrats on the swim!
The picture of you in the car is a classic - you look like you're going to own that bay when you are finished!!
The place looks gorgeous. The swim looks like a perfect challenge, and you two look like you had fun.
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