Wetsuit, Waves, and Balance

A few observations to share from my swim in the sea today, wearing my sleeveless, short-legged wetsuit. I went west along the shore for about 31 minutes, into a wind-driven current, with 50 cm swells and wind chop hitting me from 10 o’clock (to my side and slightly against my head). At the half-way mark [...]

Argument for Swimming Naked

I bet the title on this essay is going to get me in trouble on some search engines, but there is nothing inappropriate in the content, I assure you. The title just fits… I was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea in Antalya yesterday. April 8! The water was 18 C. I got fed up of [...]

I Love Cool Pools

I can’t complain that the pool we were giving our Portland OR workshop in was a bit cool for the level 1.0 drills we were working on today. 27 C is perfect for swimming laps, but for our short drills today it was giving us all the chills. A few laps however would rev our [...]

Training: Cool Water 3km, Not Fast But Not Cold

I swam 3072m today.  Starting at 14:30, at the PC 32m outdoor pool. It was overcast, windy, but not cold. The pool was 20.5 C. 2x 1036m, stopped between to put on quickjohn wetsuit. SPL (in a 32m pool) SPLIT 512m bare 27-29 8:42 512m bare 29-30 9:01 512m bare 29-30 9:04 512m wetsuited 25-26 [...]

Training: Can I Handle 19 C Water?

I swam 3072m today, starting at 14:25, at the 32m PC outdoor pool. It was cloudy, warm air, no breeze. The pool was 19.5 C- cold! I repeated the pattern of the last 2 pool swims here because it keeps me accelerating in the cold water- my only chance to endure. I layed my quickjohn [...]

The Wetsuit Adjustment Factor

I had 3 new swimming conditions today- cool water and cool, open air, a funky pool length (32 meters), and a wetsuit. I swam 2176m (yes, 2176), starting at 16:15. The outdoor pool was 23 degrees C (73 F). 512m- came in at 8:38 with SPL at 20*, a 1:40 pace 384m- 6:22, and 20 [...]