Cold water swimmers including sea, lakes and rivers

[TriSkiRun99]

After sea swimming regularly since May I’m hoping to carry on. Is anyone else hoping to carry on open water or sea swimming through the winter? If you fancy supporting each other and sharing hints n tips come join me. I’ve just bought some socks and neoprene hat, I’m hoping to to stay in my cossie as long as possible but I do have a wet suit if I cave.

Hello everyone.

Thanks for a lovely thread. I am getting into sea swimming and live 0.5 mile from the beach in a coastal town.

What are my essential buys please? I've been in the water very briefly a couple of times this month but it's been too cold to swim (I understand March is very cold in the sea and also that I need to aclimatise [is that a word?!]).

I am also busy losing a big amount of weight just now so don't want to spend a lot of money, but wondered if I could please ask what the essential buys (& brands) are please? Swim gloves, swim shoes, swim cap (?), warmer cossie?? Any advice hugely appreciated. I'm wondering about a rash vest and swimming leggings or shorts in lieu of a wetsuit, would that work?

Also, please can I ask where you find out about tide times and water temperatures and wind speeds and all these kind of things please?

Thanks in advance!

Welcome emma best advice try find a group near to you that swims, look on Facebook there’s normally a few. They can advise you on local conditions. I use the magic seaweed app for tides and swell, plus met office app for wind direction & strength guide. Good hat, gloves and booties are the essentials with a tow float. Lots of places have sold out this year as lots of people swimming. Don’t spend loads on an expensive swimming wetsuit unless you know it’s for you, my Tesco £20 shortie works just as well for a ten min dip and it’s easier to get on/ off than my £200 ‘swim’ one 🤣 I prefer my wetsuit jacket at the moment from two bare feet keeps my torso warmer but allows my legs to swim freer.

Hello Emma. 👋 I'm a very amateur sea swimmer so not sure i can offer much advice. I haven't bothered with a wet suit, just gloves, water shoes (bought for the stony shore rather than warmth but they are definitely good for my toes) and a neoprene hat, all from decathlon so cheap and cheerful. A friend of mine uses a shorty wetsuit from mountain warehouse and another wears just leggings. I did get a jacket to go over my swim suit but haven't bothered with it. The water was absolutely coldest in the last month but getting a little warmer this week....8c instead of 7.2c still too cold for my face in the water though. I tend to Google local tides although it's not that relevant where I usually swim as it's only a few feet in the difference. I can't fathom the wind at all...the air was still here yesterday (about 2km inland), very light breeze on the beach but the biggest swell I've seen outside a proper storm.

I went for a sunset swim last night but as I said, the swell was just too big to be safe with almost no one around so I was only in and out. Still worth it though.

Forgot to echo Swim, a tow float is a very good idea.

Hello everyone. So glad to have found this thread😊

I love an outdoor swim and am keen to start year round swimming.

Have various health conditions and as a result am v unfit.

Obviously it's super cold at the moment and I understand it's best to start when water temps are a bit warmer and gradually acclimatise into winter. When do people think it will be warm enough to start? May?

Thank you 😊

A general rule is a minute per water temperature degrees C. We are about 8c in SW and I tend to spend Max 15mins in water at the moment in my jacket. Not sure how warm it actually gets (I could do 45mins in a wetsuit in the summer), so if you want to get swimming just go try for a few minutes regularly as you acclimatise. Your be colder ten minutes after you get out than when you are in the water due to ‘after drop’ which affects everyone differently.

Another early Misty calm swim this morning pre—work was lovely but chilly swimming back to shore I had to work hard.

Bouncy sea yesterday where I swim. Like a ginormous wave machine. No wind so no idea where the swell was coming from. I hadn't been in for more than a week and it felt so much warmer! Only a degree or so lift to just under 9oC, but made a massive difference to how long it felt ok to stay in (did overstay in fact as it was so fun and theraputic, but cups of tea and a good walk got rid of that).

Lovely dip this afternoon. The weather was gorgeous for it. I forgot my shoes but the water must be warmer since my feet only hurt from the stones

Looks lovely barm we’ve had some blue sky days but the sea has been quite swelly, a northly wind making it bitterly cold and waves pounding. I did get out yesterday early when calmer but it was So so cold compared to earlier in the week.

Lovely calm swim this morning and the water was really clear but so so cold.

Similar here today, Swim, I'm glad I went but I'm only getting warm now!

Icy but beautiful swim this morning. It was 1c air temp and 8.5c in the water. Loads of people in the water (in wetsuits, the wimps ) and the car park was full when I left at 9.30.

So so cold this morning felt like my coldest swim this year under a clear blue sky flat calm water. Even with 5mm gloves on after only ten minutes I struggled to undo the tow float valve! Great start to the day though

@SSwimCycle21 which bit of water do you swim in? It's warming up in the Irish Sea near Dublin. Was 3.4oC one day in January but not far under 9oC now.

Had a lovely dip today. Sea was so clear and calm. Haven't seen it that clear for weeks, as it's been churned up and full of sediment.

It should be warming up now as it’s the Devon coast but even the hardcore winter swimmers were commenting it had been particularly cold this last week. The clear nights and northerly bitter wind haven’t been helping. But stunning blue sky days have been lovely with a clear calm sea.

SSC - sounds beautiful!

A week since my last swim feels like ages but I was in today. It was very bouncy and cold but I felt so good afterwards. Water is apparently 8.9c but it really felt colder today.

barmbraic I went several times last week and it really was very cold. Had two good pool swims as well they felt very hot

I got out for a dip earlier. It was beautiful but very choppy and bouncy with a strong wind. There were some proper swimmers in, I don't know how they managed to make any headway.

I tried to swim earlier but didn't get much further than a very wet paddle. The sea was very rough which would have been fine but the tide was going out and the pull was very strong so I decided it was too much of a combo for me. There were loads of people braver then me though, it was really busy even before 9. Hopefully I'll get down during the week instead.

Got in today and last Sunday. Joy. Strong long-shore current last weekend, much stronger than usual, and lovely and bouncy. Much more churned up today at my shallow beach today - all that lovely Med-style clarity is long gone! Felt great to be in after a tough week.

Absolutely beautiful morning for a swim. The water was like glass. I manged to forget my hat, gloves, boots...and togs 🤦‍♀️ luckily I'd just been for a run and I had brought a change of clothes so I went in in my running leggings and sports bra 😅

I tried to sea swim Friday but had to exit the sea asap as a hail storm suddenly hit & it was really hurty running for the car with bare legs in wetsuit jacket, being pelted by icy lumps. Thank goodness I had the car as normally I cycle down.

@SSwimCycle21 ouch!

Had a rainbow with today's swim. Oddly not too rough despite the mad winds. Much colder water than Saturday though