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Open Water Swimming
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Just keep getting in there. If you can manage a minimum of one OW swim a week, or preferably two then you will quickly get used to swimming in colder temperatures. The first 10 min of a swim is the worst bit and then you start to no notice the cold anymore.
I did a 6 hour swim yesterday. I was very cold for the first lap (about 15 min) then I warmed up and didn't really feel the cold again until I got to about 3 hours, after which I noticed the cold, but... and this is the important bit - I didn't get any colder!
The worst thing you can do is not swim regularly as you will lose any acclimitisation that you have built up
I also wimped out, tried to do the 3.8K race at lake 20, managed 1500 then had to bail as I was starting to shut down body functions such as thinking and breathing, The upside is I was so angry with my crap swimming I had a cracking session in the lido this morning. 3.5K in the Jubilee swim next weekend so hoping for a heatwave.
Heading to Thorpe tonight having convinced 3 people that they were going to get wet anyway so a bit of rain shouldn't stop them
I've booked an ow lesson at Taplow tomorrow evening so I've got to go now. Drastic times sometimes mean drastic measures.
Swimming in rain is luvly. Is it 17 degrees yet?
Blue, how do you rate Thorpe against Mytchett? I reckon no contest Thorpe takes it every time.
Good luck Soupy.
I WILL go swimbling again one day.
Mychett only has a 400m loop open at the moment as it's so cold.
Thorpe only has the 400 open as well.
For everything other than distance from home Thorpe has it for sure but as I can get to Mytchett in about 7 minutes it gets my vote for early weekend swims
No rain but it was bloomin' cold! They reckon it was 13 so 1 degree warmer than last week, I beg to differ as I wasn't really cold after 5 loops last week and by the end of 4 I was ready for a hot shower. And the café hut closed early so no coffee
KateF and anyone else who goes to Mytchett, I asked Martin about the 800 loop and that is supposed to be open at the weekend.
was suppossed to go to the Taff to swim tomorrow morning..........but we have had rain all the day and the rivers have gone from a trickle to a torrent....so will have to reasess when i get there for safety
Managed a swim (short one only) in the sea... It was a degree warmer than market bosworth! Yippee! Will be trying the lake again on Thurs. Fingers crossed it has warmed up by the weekend for the tri but I doubt it.... I really don't fancy a duathlon, me no like running!
Hope you have all warmed up now... Very jealous of you In The Blue... 13 sounds tropical!
I honestly think they were lying about 13!
Good luck Soupy, liking your thinking to force you to go.
Thanks ITB, Jubilee swim for me this weekend instead
whilst the temps might be cold.spare a thought for those doing the city to summit ironman this weekend.......a 2.4 mile swim in the firth of forth.....sounds a might cold......to then cycle from edinburgh towards ben nevis and then a marathon that finishes at the summit of ben nevis......
It can be safe to swim in flooded rivers if you know the river well, and take sensible precautions. I swam in a flooded river in December. We hardly swam and just floated most of the 1.4k in 9 minutes!
But before getting in we spent a good 15 min sussing out which parts of the river had the slowest currents and where our exit points were. We also has two other exit points just in case we got swept past the first one. There were other parts of the same river that I would not have swum in as I either didn't know the banks well enough or wouldn't have felt confident about getting out
S-Caz, I think that you have also got a bit of final resort plan that you keep in your back pocket. The ability to survive the cold for an hour, and to be able to swim for a few miles. Even if you end up in Cardiff Bay you can still get out somewhere.
Even so, I'm not convinced about the swollen river. Unseen underwater obstructions can grab and trap you.
However, I do still fancy going in to some of our rivers when they quieten down again.
It does depend on the river Blisters. There are some I would go in, and some I wouldn't. I'm not encouraging people to take risks. Everyone should stay within their own ability and know what their limits are.
The river I swam in didn't have any underwater obstructions that were going to trip me up. I wasn't intending to put my feet any lower in the water than about 12 inches as I was going to be swimming, and the river is also used by boats that have a deeper draft than me.
Just like there are some neighbourhoods you wouldn't chose to run through on a dark night on your own, and some places that are safe all the time, but you have to assess the risks yourself and chose what you do accordingly.
I just get really fed up with the people who try to tell me that OW swimming is dangerous under any circumstances. I think its a lot safer than crossing a busy road, for example
The Taff was fine this morning but colder than last week............swam up to my A point......19 mins to swim there and 7 mins to swim back......been it last winter when the currents were stronger........
its a very clean bit of river and I had my spotters on the bank with phones incase of a problem........
Again, as you state, it depends on the ability of the individual. When it comes to river swimming, my cumulative experience is probably akin to that of a Primary School child being asked to cross a busy road.
I did actually learn to swim in a slack part of a river, but one that is used for white water canoeing. I was 11 at the time and school rules were a lot more lax. Can you imagine the Year 7 teachers taking their kids down to the river, and asking them to go for a communal swim in the last weeks before the summer break? Girls strip off over there, boys beyond those trees.
I've been to Taplow lake. It was 14.5 and after the intial shock not too bad. Still couldn't get my breathing sorted though and kept tightening up and hyperventilating. Nice hot shower at the end, a mug of hot chocolate and get this - the clubhouse has a bar. There were a few weeds but nothing too bad at all and a 750m lap open as well as a 400 and 250. I'll be there again next week, and there are some trails for running too.
http://www.taplow-ows.co.uk/
I'll be there EP, hoping to get 4 laps in tonight
Tri 20 tonight in my new swim socks, what a difference, lake was warmer as well.
Which socks, Kate?
Orca ones, £24 fron the Tri 20 place
Managed 4 large laps last night, no idea of time as i didn't take my stop watch by my sighting technique seems to be improving slightly. Definitly need a pirate swim hat although there's alot of yellow ones at bosworth, just none with the pirate logo.