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Christened my wet suit + my first OW swim

ironkavironkav Posts: 259
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











Comments

  • bunongbunong Posts: 49
    Ironkav,



    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..
  • ironkavironkav Posts: 259
    its an incredible difference..

    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..



  • bunongbunong Posts: 49
    I don't like the sound of sea swimming - salt water, waves and isn't monsters in there that gobble you up?



    The canal sounds much better - look out for boats first as I don't recomend playing chicken with them...
  • ironkavironkav Posts: 259
    yeah the only problem i can forsee is the narrowness of the canal.. at least with sea swims you can make room for yourself. The canal is about 10m wide. tight squeeeeeze
  • GGBGGB Posts: 482
    Similar experience to my first OW session in a wetsuit - about a month ago in the sea off Portsmouth - very cold on the face and feet, but the body warm - got my head in but like you couldn't keep it in for long lol. Been Lake swimming 3 or 4 times since and its much easier, fewer waves and warmer too - so yes it does get easier.



  • julesojuleso Posts: 279
    Ditto, I did my first OW swim yesterday in a lake, owww the cold!! My feet took hours to warm up. The coldest fun I ever had, I reckon.



    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.
  • osgurosgur Posts: 11
    had my first ow swim yesterday also at the 40ft in dublin. Swam out to a bhoy and back , was absolutely freezing and also very tough going. The pure shock of it was unreal, couldnt swim more than 25m without a pause. Was an awful lot easier on way back in with current mind.



    Good thing is now I know what to expect but it must get easier, does it ?
  • ironkavironkav Posts: 259
    Hey osgur.. whats the 40ft like.. i went out to Bray. What distance is it to buoy and back.. 40ft is a closer drive for me.
  • mumu Posts: 24
    I had my first open water swim of the season on Friday. It was in the Thames, so no waves to deal with. It's so much more fun than pool swimming.

    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!!
  • Good man on the open swim, brave man in the sea, that must have been so cold - did my first of the year on Saturday evening in Lough Ree in Ireland - it was freezing ....... managed 300 - 400 metres and that was enough to realise that its another 2/3 weeks before it'll be enjoyable temperature wise, still it was nice to be swimming in the wetsuit again ............ it needs to warm up Athy is in 3 weeks !!
  • FlavadaveFlavadave Posts: 749
    Had my first OW swim in wetsuit at the weekend as well. 7am, freezing cold but bloody loved it!



    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!
  • steved25steved25 Posts: 37
    Same here



    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
  • osgurosgur Posts: 11
    the 40ft was good i think, didnt have anywhere to compare it to until today when I went for a dip at Kiliney beach.... couldnt swim at all, waves were massive, about 20 surfers out there.



    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.
  • Scott WScott W Posts: 51
    My new Blue Seventy was christened at liquid leisure Sunday before last, once got used to temp I loved it.



    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
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