OK, I went for a swim this morning at the lake near my home. The weather was not the best here, 45 degrees and drizzling. I swam last weekend and the water was actually warmer than the air. This morning however, the water was like ice. I swam out for about fifteen minutes with my face, hands and feet becoming completely numb. It got to the point where me head was spinning and my eyes would not focus. Needless to say, I turned around and headed for home (let the wuss comments commence).
A couple of years ago while staying in San Fran to race Vineman, I swam with a buddy in the bay and experienced the same thing. I had to float on my back until I could get my senses back to make it back to shore. Anyone have any idea what is the explanation for this?
Sounds like the blood is moving to areas it want to to help you survive. You get an award for polar swimming. I use a product called Sixtus (Sixtufit) Sports Creme from Excel Sports Boulder that is a thick herbal oil grease that is effective in cold water. It has a warming feeling as blood rushes to the skin surface due to the herbs irritating the skin and giving a warm sensation. Whatever the cause, it sure makes feels better. I know this is for cyclist legs in the cold and wet of cycle race, but it works on the face as well.
next time wear ear plugs: extra cold water in your ears can cause a lot of problems with the inner ear and your sense of direction (leading to disorientation/dizziness). With earplugs the effects are usually minimized.
This is one of those interesting conditions that is almost completely ignored or overlooked by triathletes. I had the same thing happen to me the first time I did an open water swim in 52 degree water with a fullsuit. After about 20 minutes, I was nauseous, dizzy, felt truly dreadful. I hoped that I would die, and felt terrible for the rest of the day. None of the other swimmers had any trouble, and the two pros who were leading the swim(and charging for it) apparently felt that I was either a lightweight or a wimp, as they paid me no mind whatsoever. One of the other swimmers checked up on me, and we both thought that maybe it was hypothermia, even though I had a ful suit on, since my head was exposed.
I bought a neoprene cap, but that didn’t help much, and the first couple of triathlons I did were horrible. I would come out of the water felling terrible, stumbling around, and feeling like I would throw up for the first thirty minutes on the bike.
Eventually, I tried using earplugs. You know what? That solved the problem. The problem? It’s called swim vertigo. The strange thing is that I get water in my ears in the pool and it doesn’t bother me so much, but when I get cold in my ears during open water swims, I get all the symptoms of swim vertigo. I have only found information about this in one book, by the way. It’s about open water swimming. I have never seen it in any triathlete training books, competitive swimming books, or online.
I do not know why some folks get it and some don’t. I don’t know why so few triathletes know anything about it. I just know that (because I have done two years of informal research) I can swim in 50-60 degree water without a suit or cap wearing earplugs and feel okay, but if I swim with a suit and cap and no earplugs, I’ll get swim vertigo.
Wear earplugs. I recommend the foam ones. Silicon won’t stay in place, and gets nasty, the shooting style ones are uncomfortable. The foam ones are good for three or so swims.
I agree on the earplugs - they helped me with the same headache issue with cold air and water. Given this sensitivity of yours, perhaps you might consider a new username?