Too cold for this Canadian!

ell, the Roughwater swim wasn’t exactly what I had visualised!

The temperature was announced as 16.5 degrees. The air temperature was 23 degrees. I thought that I should test the conditions so I went for a short swim about half an hour before the 10am start. I was able to confirm that the water was cold – and I also convinced myself that I’d be able to stay warm as long as I kept moving.

I was looking forward to the swim and I wanted to have a benchmark of my swim fitness.

Cold is not my friend, even though I am Canadian. Ironic isn’t it? The one DNF that I have came in the Netherlands where a heavy rain and hail storm during the bike of a three-quarter Ironman led me to drop out of the race because I couldn’t stand the cold cutting through me as I descended the hills. It took hours, including a few in a medical tent while Margreet raced on, before I felt normal again.

The horn sounded and off into the surf at Bondi my wave went. I wasn’t aggressively racing in! I braced myself as best I could for the initial cold and then got on with it.

I swam well out to the first buoy and kept telling myself to focus on swimming and not being cold. The shape of the course seemed a bit different in the water than online. I passed the second and third buoys and began the homestretch. I felt strong, and eager to finish.

I stopped once to get my bearings as the waves were rolling at a decent pitch for me and I was a bit unsure whether everyone in front of me was going in the right direction. I didn’t want to swim any extra distance.

That momentary stop intensified the cold. I swam a few more strokes and stopped again. I repeated that once more and then headed straight for a surf ski – I was simply too cold and the finish was still too far away. It was time for me to get out.

I have no idea exactly how far I swam in total but I think I was in the water about 30 minutes – simply too long for me. At the moment, I have very little insulation.

I rather ungracefully boarded the surf ski and was helped to a surf rescue inflatable. We waited for a few minutes to see if anyone else might join me but I think as I started to shiver more forcefully the guys opts to head to shore. And off we went.

Onshore, I got an emergency blanket, then a second blanket and then I was escorted to the surf club for at least a 10-minute hot shower before a doctor intervened. It gets more interesting!

I was laid out in a medical room, wrapped up and even got some oxygen. And I was shivering uncontrollably for a few minutes. Fortunately Margreet tracked me down. On the doctor’s orders, she gave me a huge hug for about 10 minutes and finally the shivering started to ease. Whew! Perfect timing!!

We took a taxi home as recommended even though it’s just a 2-3km walk. When you have hypothermia all the blood rushes to the core and if it rushes back too fast to the arms and legs, there’s a chance that the hypothermia will return.

I had another hot shower, put on two layers of clothing, enjoyed several massive pancakes with maple syrup, a cup of tea and then I crashed in bed. I was fast asleep within minutes.

And I’ll be lying low the rest of today and Monday. See you Tuesday!!!

[Note to coach: I rode 50k in the park on my own before the swim]