Christened my wet suit + my first OW swim
ironkav
Posts: 259
in General Chat
Hey guys,
Hit the Irish Sea today for first swim session and to test out my ORCA s2.
Bloody Freezing(on body parts outside of wetsuit).. I couldnt even keep my head in water in case of Brain Freeze.. THe bay is 800m long, swam in it bits and pieces, not all at once, but to be honest it was tough going; swimming across the bay with the waves and the current pulling me out to sea.
THe wetsuit was very good.. very buoyant and my body was nice and snug. My hands and feet and face were v cold, but after the numbness kicked in I was fine..
I found it hard to get a rythm going. I usually breathe bilaterally but my face was so cold that I had to take it out every second stroke..
Any one experience anything like this on their first time?? WIll it get easier?
Loved every second of it though which is good i suppose..
IK
Hit the Irish Sea today for first swim session and to test out my ORCA s2.
Bloody Freezing(on body parts outside of wetsuit).. I couldnt even keep my head in water in case of Brain Freeze.. THe bay is 800m long, swam in it bits and pieces, not all at once, but to be honest it was tough going; swimming across the bay with the waves and the current pulling me out to sea.
THe wetsuit was very good.. very buoyant and my body was nice and snug. My hands and feet and face were v cold, but after the numbness kicked in I was fine..
I found it hard to get a rythm going. I usually breathe bilaterally but my face was so cold that I had to take it out every second stroke..
Any one experience anything like this on their first time?? WIll it get easier?
Loved every second of it though which is good i suppose..
IK
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Had similar experience last night. First outting of the year and I thought i would be great as only on Tuesday had swum an excellent (for me) 30mins TT in the pool - 67 lengths. Anyway got in the lake thinking I would swim quicker and my feet, hands and forehand instantly froze. Swam the first 600m and had to get out as I hadn't put my wetsuit on correctly, I couldn't get into a rythm and my shoulders were screaming at me. Anyway after udusting everything I finished the swim - about 1300m in a really slow time. I can't remember a worse swim since starting this Tri business. I'm just glad it wasn't at and event..
Its times like these i wish i lived in the Mediterranean where wetsuits aren't needed and the water is cool not frikkin ice.
My first sea event is in the irish sea, its a 750m so hopefully it goes ok. Will try get back there every 2 weeks to swim the bay twice.
There is a canal near me also which will be getting some action..
The canal sounds much better - look out for boats first as I don't recomend playing chicken with them...
Someone did point out that you can't drown in a wetsuit which while probably not entirely accurate was at least a reassuring thought!
Advice given to us was to get in, pull open the neck a bit to let in the cold water (oooh! we weren't tempted), then get the forehead in and you'll be right as rain. Albeit still pretty cold!
No waves in a lake though......hurrah! Reckon that's for the hardcore.
Good thing is now I know what to expect but it must get easier, does it ?
Saying that, the first few times in open water are always tough. I've had a couple of years and it's the same every year. The difference between pool swimming and open water in a wetsuit, means you have to get used to it.
If you swim in the sea, it'll be that little bit more difficult. The sea is always a couple of degrees colder than rivers/lakes/canals. The brain freeze I've had swimming in the sea[:)]
The good news is that every swim from now on will be a little easier. And they say train hard race easy!!
They had us practising mass starts and then swimming in threes with the two on the outside trying to drown the guy in the middle by swimming over them, grabbing shoulders, legs etc. Brilliant fun!
Swallowed lots of water and had my goggles on upside down for the first half hour so couldn't see where I was going as they were full of water. Also got a wicked friction burn on the back of my neck so more lube required next time.
For the first five minutes I was hyperventilating and thinking "I can't do this", but relaxed in to it and really enjoyed it.
Bring on Eton!
I did my first open water ever at the weekend in the sea at southend
I spent the first 20 mins plucking up the curuage to put my face in the water
But after that it was ok
I would still rather the blue lines and the chlorine of a nice warm pool
Cheers all
steve
at the 40th foot I entered at beach at swam out to first bhoy and back.... guessing it was about 500 metres total, couldnt be sure though.
My shoulders suffered a bit (compared to pool) which was clearly addition of neoprene but wonder whether I had pulled suit up high enough...will see on Saturday at Eton
SW