Open water

brian_bugle

Hey - apart from the brave souls who swim year-round, has any amateur part-timers like myself ventured out yet? I’ve signed up for an Olympic distance triathlon in early June (I’ve done pool-based sprints before) and want to know your thoughts on getting out there and adapting to the conditions?

WeeBushy

Water's just about at it's coldest now.

Getting used to open water as soon as possible is always a help, as it is very different to a pool. And the sooner (colder) you can adapt to the water the easier it will feel come June. However in saying that, believe me, it's ruddy cold atm! You're unlikely be able to tolerate much actual swimming at this temperature - better off sticking to the pool and when it starts to warm up in April get into the sea as much as possible then.

No harm at all going for a very quick dip now, it incredibly exhilarating and a lot of fun. But purely for your triathlon I wouldn't worry about the sea for a while yet.

brian_bugle

Yeah that’s exactly what I was thinking. Better to get in and splash about for a couple of minutes even once a week and it can only get better (in terms of temperature) from there. This week last year I remember marvelling at a woman doing similar at Port beach (Co Louth). The beast from the east has put me off trying it out this weekend 😂

WeeBushy wrote: »

Water's just about at it's coldest now.

Getting used to open water as soon as possible is always a help, as it is very different to a pool. And the sooner (colder) you can adapt to the water the easier it will feel come June. However in saying that, believe me, it's ruddy cold atm! You're unlikely be able to tolerate much actual swimming at this temperature - better off sticking to the pool and when it starts to warm up in April get into the sea as much as possible then.

No harm at all going for a very quick dip now, it incredibly exhilarating and a lot of fun. But purely for your triathlon I wouldn't worry about the sea for a while yet.

panda100

Was 'swimming' in Limerick city at the weekend in skins and it was 5.1 degrees, colder than Christmas Day dip! I say once you get in for 3 or 4 open swims in May you will be fine for your triathlon in June. The biggest transition from pool to tri swimming for me was wearing the wetsuit rather than the coldness of the water. If you put that on and try and swim 100 metres or so it will really help.

brian_bugle

Fair play is all I say. I've gotten in twice in the last fortnight. My feet instantly turned to ice blocks the first time and it took an hour after I got out for me to be able to feel my toes again. The wetsuit isn't an issue for me - don't think I could get in now without one! Saturday was much better. I'm not sure if it was just the weather on the day, but it was easier second time round. I wriggled my toes while walking round for ages to try to keep the feeling in them. Did a lot more head dunking this time and even tried a couple of metres front crawl. Slowly building up and acclimatising

panda100

brian_bugle wrote: »

Fair play is all I say. I've gotten in twice in the last fortnight. My feet instantly turned to ice blocks the first time and it took an hour after I got out for me to be able to feel my toes again. The wetsuit isn't an issue for me - don't think I could get in now without one! Saturday was much better. I'm not sure if it was just the weather on the day, but it was easier second time round. I wriggled my toes while walking round for ages to try to keep the feeling in them. Did a lot more head dunking this time and even tried a couple of metres front crawl. Slowly building up and acclimatising

That picture makes it look almost tropical :pac: