You say that you wore 2 swim caps but did you also wear a full-sleeved wetsuit??? Or were you going under "English Channel rules", i.e. no wetsuit??? JOOC, how much do you weigh, how tall, and how long had you been swimming when you were pulled by the medics???

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Full wet suit. Was a little short of 2 miles in, I.e. Had doubled back past the second bridge heading towards the finish. But I could tell at the turnaround something was wrong. 146, 5'9... Extremely lean/muscular, no visible body fat. Most of my training swims were in much warmer waters.

Sorry to hear that. Hate your race ended that way. You must be super-duper lean.

Was in the swim with you at Copenhagen, had no problem. Then again, my last IM-Distance race was Norseman. Piece of advice, don't even think about that one).

Actually thought water was pretty comfortable. Think they said water temp was 17C? Guess one benefit of not being too lean. :)

Regardless, sorry to hear about your race. I don't have great knowledge..but my guess is MD could be about same range temp?

Nice back door brag......

I bet Maryland will be warmer. I haven't raced it but I used to live out there.

But I'd still recommend bringing a neoprene cap just in case, given what happened. Plus it also covers a little more of your face if there are jellyfish.

Ear plugs are also very helpful.

Not a brag--was asked for my body composition. I also failed to complete a race 98% of the field finished.

Worth noting I have no body fat
From your initial post. I should have quoted that. And I am just jealous, I have way too much body fat!!
John

I have the same "problem" - when I'm even remotely fit, my body fat tumbles VERY low and there isn't much I've been able to do about it. It has caused me problems in racing as well.

I'm aware you can't do anything about it now, but... I never do races where the water has even a remote chance of being below 67-68 degrees. In addition, if a race is going to be non-wetsuits, I try to find races where it will definitely be non-wetsuit, which means water temp above 80 most years. I actually screwed that up this year at Steelhead as that race had never been non-wetsuit before - I thought I was set, but the water ended up being 76.5. I got in and warmed up, dried off as best I could, but in the 5 minutes post warm up prior to starting I shivered pretty badly, all resulting in my not warming up again until the final 1/3 of the swim and swimming my slowest HIM time by 7 minutes (and I had aspirations of being at the front of the AG overall, and I'm typically a top 10% swimmer - not that day). I actually started treading water mid swim as I thought that might warm me up faster than actual swimming was.

Speaking as someone who cannot boast no body fat, and who tends to suffer in hot (30+ degrees) conditions, the lesson I have learned the hard way is don't enter races where the climate may work against me.

But how long time-wise had you been swimming??? Time in the cold water is the key consideration here. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Oh about an hour or a little over

in cold water races 11 degrees upwards I use an Orca heat seeker vest. I'm 5'11" and 145lb, my fat % is around 7% but the best way is to get conditioned by spending more time in the water. I have raced in Denmark and Iceland this year and the water temp was way lower but i had spent the last few weeks getting used to this as a MOP racer I tend to spend more time in the water.

As others have mentioned, a neoprene cap will work for you. It will significantly reduce the amount of body exposed to the water. Booties will do the same, and are also WTC legal, but will slow you down. But a slower swim is better than a DNF...

I find that although I absolutely hate the cold, the more gradual exposure I get over a season, the better my body handles it. I'd consider putting yourself through shorter swims (5-20 minutes) in the month before the race.

I might also suggest a chemical heat pack under the wetsuit, but caution that some of them get too hot. Try it out in the pockets of your tri-suit underneath in practice.

Edit:

There are heated wetsuits that do the same thing. But they don't seem cheap...
http://www.heatedwetsuitreviews.com/

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

Hi David, I completed IM MD last year and it was not too bad. I will say I am much larger than you, 6'2" and 195 pounds (and covered with fur), but I swam MD last year in a sleeveless shorty. I think the water was somewhere around 64F, with the air temps in the 40's at the start. The cool air made the water feel warm. You may want to forgo the swim warm-up, as standing around wet in cool conditions is a recipe for disaster. Maybe with the race being earlier in the month, the water will be warmer. If I remember correctly, had the race been on October 4 as originally scheduled, the water temps were in the mid to low 70's. I do remember my feet didn't warm up until about mile 7 of the run.....Good luck to you.

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Start slow and taper off....

Strange how everyone's experience varies. I was at CPH and it felt like swimming in a bath compared to anything I have swam in around home. I'd have a bit more than 'zero' insulation though. This has given me the justification to have another cup cake.

I used a neoprene scuba hood at Norseman this year and was fine on the swim at 14C/58F. And I'm pretty lean, too: 5'11" and 161. I was super cold on the bike though and didn't finish. 39F/4C and heavy rain and wind doesn't work for me no matter what I'm wearing.