(Doing it as well)
from what I've heard water temp is *usually* anywhere from low to mid 60 F.

The question I have: if it were a clear/cloudless day, would it be better to have clear or tinted goggles for the swim?

It starts into the east... Sunny morning I'd wear mirrored and tinted, cloudy, I use smoked (almost clear). That's been my experience with East-West swims...

The temps last year were great, it's suitable for sleeve or sleeveless. I would anticipate like 2016 that the water will be warmer than the air, I would say it was solid 70's last year and it felt great to jump in.

Current can range from nothing to a little something, I was anticipating a 1:20:00 swim and got a 1:15:00, but couldn't tell until I saw the final numbers. As for swimming upstream, I noticed nothing. There's so many people in that narrow way going in one direction I could have swore we created a natural upstream current.

I wore tinted goggles, they worked great.

Don't think too hard on why the ground is wet as you're approaching the swim start venue ;)

---

Regards,
J. Smith

 Generally I hate the abbreviation "LOL" because it is so over-used... but.... LOL!!

There is no way to know what the current will be like. Ironman will swear to you that the Army Corps of Engineers has promised to work with them regarding the release of water upstream. But, depending on how much rain falls in the area leading up to the race, the release of water will be determined by what is needed to protect life & property regardless of whether there is an Ironman going on.

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I did it in 2015. A sleeveless wetsuit was perfect, water temps were high 60s (air temp was high 40s which created a cool fog above the water). Current was very light that year, but I still swam slightly faster than normal.

wow that's a bit chilly coming out of the water!
So I'm guessing if wearing a tri-suit, arm warmers would be advised, at least for the start of the bike?

Yes, it was up to mid 50s when I got out of the water. It can get cold at nights that time of year. I had toe covers already on my shoes, and put on an old pair arm warmers in T1 (not fun), and just accepted that I'd be cold at the start of the bike. But it was sunny, and within an hour I was too hot for the arm warmers and ditched them.

Water temps most likely 68-70F, could be as cold as 65ish but that's only because they're at the latest possible date in their "window" this year.

The upstream leg of the swim is to the NE.. I think light will only be an issue for the very first part of the swim, and that's only if you're near the front of the line.

Current will depend on how much it rains in the 2-3 weeks leading up to race day. The last 2 years have been dry enough (2015 was even dry and warm enough until just before race day that the swim was almost cancelled due to algae) that it was truly low flow. Back in 2014 the river was up and people were taking the same amount of time for the 0.8 mile upstream leg as the 1.6 downstream. Being behind the island is a little bit protected, but if there's enough flow you will notice it. Back in June there was enough water coming downstream that it was pretty much an endless pool even where the race starts.

Thank you, all for the answers. "Endless pool" is what I was afraid of. I'm not the fastest swimmer. My open water time for IM distance (training, this is my first IM) is 1:35:00 to 1:40:00. I could get in a lot of trouble if the current is more than 1 MPH.

For most circumstances, 1 mph is probably high-end for the current speed, and that would probably only happen if there was more coming down than they could safely hold. If you saw the infamous "endless pool" video from June, that was just a little north of 2 mph. If that happens on race weekend, nobody is going to be swimming 2.4 miles, assuming they're swimming at all!