I just read some pretty good threads on open water swimming and panicking here.
That said I did a 1.2 mile OWS this weekend. I never got comfortable or got my breathing down really good because of the 65 degree temp. I know many will scoff at that, but for me that is just too damn cold. I was born in sunny TX and loathe cold. I avoid it at all costs. I have done 3 tris that were OWS with no wetsuit, in the last one I did good on the swim. The first one was my frist ever. In the 2nd my problems were all swim technique related.
I’m a much better swimmer now, but cold water just freaks me out and sends my heart to redline and my breathing to hyperventilation. Tomorrow I will have master swimming in the pool. For the first 15 minutes of the hour, I will be breathign too hard and struggling with the 73 degree water. I’m so warm, during winter sports events women will cling to me to get warm. Cold water really messes with my mind. I realize this is all mental.
Anyone experience this and have any way to cope with it?
I have a wetsuit legal OWS tri this weekend and the water is going to be 63-65F. For me that will be very cold. I can breast stroke it and hyperventilate my way to the bike if need be, but I’d much rather race it.
I just read some pretty good threads on open water swimming and panicking here.
That said I did a 1.2 mile OWS this weekend. I never got comfortable or got my breathing down really good because of the 65 degree temp. I know many will scoff at that, but for me that is just too damn cold. I was born in sunny TX and loathe cold. I avoid it at all costs. I have done 3 tris that were OWS with no wetsuit, in the last one I did good on the swim. The first one was my frist ever. In the 2nd my problems were all swim technique related.
I’m a much better swimmer now, but cold water just freaks me out and sends my heart to redline and my breathing to hyperventilation. Tomorrow I will have master swimming in the pool. For the first 15 minutes of the hour, I will be breathign too hard and struggling with the 73 degree water. I’m so warm, during winter sports events women will cling to me to get warm. Cold water really messes with my mind. I realize this is all mental.
Anyone experience this and have any way to cope with it?
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This is quite common…I suggest that you get in the water a little earlier than you normally would to warm up and get your body used to the cold temperature…Your breathing should calm down after your body adapts.
Like Ultra-tri-guy said, warm up really well. I find after swimming in painfully cold water for 10 minutes it stops feeling cold.
Could it be that you’re getting so worked up about it that you never swim fast enough to get warm? I don’t think this needs to be an all out thing, but definitely more than a panicked breast stroke. Get moving right away so that the cold doesn’t settle in.
Also, I’ve heard that people with really low visceral fat seem to suffer more in cold water and have a harder time getting warm.
I don’t know if that helps, but it’s all I can think of.
Its more than just getting in the water - you need to get your FACE in the water. When you get cold water on your face, your body reacts to it immediately. You need to get your face down & swim for 5-10 minutes to get the skin on your face cooled down. This will solve any physiological reaction you’re having. It won’t solve any mental problem, and you’ll still hyperventilate if you go out too hard and cant handle the pace.
X2 on getting your face in the water. My strategy is to stand in the water with my hands in the cold water for a few minutes, then begin swimming SLOWLY with my face in. It takes about 10 minutes before my breathing really gets under control. Good luck
Its more than just getting in the water - you need to get your FACE in the water. When you get cold water on your face, your body reacts to it immediately. You need to get your face down & swim for 5-10 minutes to get the skin on your face cooled down. This will solve any physiological reaction you’re having. It won’t solve any mental problem, and you’ll still hyperventilate if you go out too hard and cant handle the pace.
One would assume that getting in the water and doing a warm up meant actual swimming…
Try doing a massive warmup on land, like running at least 20min with too much clothes on. The cold water should be a bliss, not a punishment
A running warmup can actually replace the ‘warmup’ in the water, which in reality works as a ‘cool-down’ for you.
That said, I am a fish… I don’t understand this ‘panic’ reaction and hyperventilation.
I’ve had this experience before, and found for me, the solution.
You’ve gotta get in the water a good deal earlier than you think, to acclimate. Don’t have to swim - just play in the water or relax in it until you adjust to the temps.
I’ve swam in 55-60F water surprisingly often with a sleeveless wetsuit this way - the water was so cold it took my breath away, and in fact, I was the ONLY person in the triclub who went into the water to acclimate before the training OWS swim. Took me over 10 mins in the water to relax and get used to it. When the swim began, I was amazed that I was in the lead at my not-fast swim pace (I’m usually a dead-MOP swimmers), and it wasn’t until 1/2way through that the good guys started blowing by. Turns out they were all gasping for breath at the shock of water entry as well - my acclimation early gave me a huge advantage until they got used to it too.
You just gotta get in that water and stay there until you acclimate. Might take 10 mins, might take 15-20, but it’ll happen, and then you’ll be go to go, even with a scrum of bodies around you adding to the panic.
What the others have said was similar to the advice I got prior to my first race in cold water and it really does help. Practicing it helps even more, so that when I got to race day, I knew I had swum in colder temps, I knew I could complete the distance in that water and I knew that I was able to really focus on my breathing out on a slow count to be able to not hyperventilate.
I will get in and completely submerge myself 4-5 times blowing out the air HARD when I hit the water, then do a short warm up in the water. That has seemed to be the ticket for me.
Have a bottle of warm water and pour it down your suit before you get in the water. When you first get in, the wetsuit is designed to let in a small layer of water around your skin that your body warms up…which in turn keeps you warm…so if you have some warm water in your suit, thats less time being cold before the wetsuit starts working.
Yep, I’m similar with the cold water thing. And 65F is definitely cold imo.
The problem with a pre-race warmup swim in cold water can be … if my wave starts like an hour later, I’m a worthless popsicle. The only thing worse than getting into cold water is climbing back out again unless it’s 100F and sunny outside.
What does work for me: splashing my face with water before the race. No pre-race swim unless my wave goes off immediately, but definitely splash my face with the water. I’ve heard some people say to add warm liquid inside your wetsuit, but I haven’t tried that. My coldest race was ~55F water and ~45F air temp. I first splashed my face repeatedly, then I let some of the cold water into my wetsuit so it could warm up before I started the swim (the seasoned racers told me to do this). The last bit was highly unpleasant, but I was totally fine when the race started. Except my hands and feet went totally numb, but whatever.
Splash your face with the water even if you don’t do the pre-race swim. That alone is huge (for me, at least).
Have fun. You’ll get to the bike and run soon enough.
Have a bottle of warm water and pour it down your suit before you get in the water. When you first get in, the wetsuit is designed to let in a small layer of water around your skin that your body warms up…which in turn keeps you warm…so if you have some warm water in your suit, thats less time being cold before the wetsuit starts working.
That is why you are supposed to pee in your wetsuit…
I trained people scuba diving and this is also a regular issue even with wetsuit on. In my experience, the solution that works for most people is getting in the water and letting your body adjust to the cold temperature BEFORE doing any activity. I wouldn’t think a warm up of sorts would change anything, just laying still, letting your body adjust to the temperature would do the trick. Make sure to splash your face a few times.
In cold water days i’d take a little extra time floating in the surface until the hyperventilation of those suffering with the cold water shock had receded. Only until then i’d begin the dive. In the ocean waves provided a natural mechanic face splashing.
As a bit of a backgrounder, I have been swimming in the Hudson River (divides Manhattan from New Jersey) for a better part of 10 years. Our swim club holds the first of a series of OWS as early as May with a 1.7 mile swim, putting the water at 55 to 57 degrees. The swim starts in water meaning we have to be floating for about four or five minutes prior to the official gun start. In previous years the shock of getting into that water causes some people to immediately hyperventilate. I have seen swimmers climb back up to the dock and totally DNF their swim. On the other hand, there a lot who swim with nothing but bathing suits and speedos. A few of those hardy (better yet foolhardy) were taken out on ambulances after the swim.
I have tried all sorts of warm-up techniques to prepare my body for the 50+ degree temperature: Running, push-ups, pouring warm water in wetsuit, peeing in the wetsuit, etc… NONE of these warm-up techniques work. None. On the contrary, I have noticed that the colder my body temperature, the easier it was to adjust to the cold water. Pretty logical isn’t it?
So for the past couple of years what really worked for me was to cool my body prior to jumping into the water. Particularly my hands and feet. I would pack a lot of ice into a zip lock container and soak my hands and feet into the ice-pack (with water) until unbearable. I would splash and soak my face with this cold water until my face got numb. Prior to the plunge I would pour some of this cold water into my wetsuit - literally sending a shiver down my spine. While doing this I have gotten strange stares from my competitors (I have never seen anyone does this), but I have also gotten positive nods and reactions from those who see the logic in what I was doing. One minute prior to the plunge, my hands, feet and face would be painfully numb from the ice-prep. Then I take the plunge for the start. Guess what my my first reaction is to the 55 degree water?
“Ohhhh… thank goodness that feels soooo much warmer.”
While the others are shivering, shaking and complaining about the 55 degree temps, I am enjoying it as my hands, feet and face are all warming up. It’s really all common sense but wisdom and experience helps too…
I suggest that you get in the water a little earlier than you normally would to warm up and get your body used to the cold temperature…Your breathing should calm down after your body adapts.
This is probably the only thing that’s going to do it for you, other than just swimming in cold water for all your workouts (and who in their right mind is going to do that). If it makes you feel better i’ve been swimming my whole life and choppy + cold water still throws me for a loop. This morning our pool was 76 degrees. I don’t think i got warm until about 1500m into it. ugh.
I only ask since that’s a race in Texas this weekend - if it’s the olympic - it’s a boat start where you jump off the boat; however, the water’s supposed to warm up by the weekend.
I did my second OWS this last Christmas in a Florida lake at 58 degrees and it certainly took my breath away; but after a few minutes of alternating between freestyle and breast stroke, my head/face was numb enough for me to actually enjoy the swim.
All that to say that the only advice I have is to know it’s coming, roll with it, and have a plan to begin your normal stroke as quickly as possible.
