What Is Cold Water Swimming? Part 2 – The Open Water Swimmer’s Rule of Thumb – When Is The Water Too Cold?

Is it too cold to swim? and when is it too cold to swim? are perennial questions that have prompted a number of articles and to which I will likely return in the future. If I was to list the variations of ways people inquire if the water is sufficiently warm or too cold to swim, well, the list…

What Is Cold Water Swimming? Part 1 – What Governs Ocean Temperature?

I went for a swim one evening recently, my first time in the sea in about three weeks. The air was warmer, the day nicer, the sun setting later than it had in mid- February. But the water felt bitter. My skin thermometer told me it was about seven degrees (and feeling colder due to…