Greetings, I'm a first-timer to the 70.3 distance, preparing to do the Victoria, BC 70.3 in 2 weeks and concerned about the lake (or lake/air combo) temperature because it has been so much colder than usual. I inquired to the Ironman organizers and they say there will be an update about the swim in the next week, but I'm wondering if anyone has been down at Elk Lake recently and has any sense of the temp now. I swam there only 25 minutes about 2 weeks ago, on a cold (10 degree) windy day, and the water temp was definitely above 10 but I can't guess how much warmer. (I didn't think to bring a thermometer and I live several hours away so not likely to get there again before the race.)

I am a small female and I get hypothermic easily, even with a wetsuit and post-swim attention to nutrition, like warm drinks and food. Any tips on how to acclimate to this swim and not be cold on the bike especially if it continues to be rainy and cool? I was thinking of trying a series of brief ocean dips (without wetsuit) having read that even 5-6 immersions of 3 minutes can halve the shock response.

Other ideas/tips/experience with Elk Lake?

(P.S. was planning to practice swim at Westwood Lake in Nanaimo today but just as I got there, a triathlon running at that moment had cancelled the swim due to water temp being only 10, plus some other formula that incorporated the cold air temp as well. I looked at guidelines provided by Ironman and it looks like the full swim at Elk Lake or any 70.3 could be cancelled if water temp doesn't reach 14 degrees.)

Thanks for your help!