The Ocean is Cold and it is Snowing in Vancouver??

It has been an unseasonably cold winter in BC! A few weeks ago I made my first foray into the ocean at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver (April 7th). While Vancouverites should be gardening and golfing at this time of year, it was snowing in the upper levels of West Vancouver and people are still skiing down the slopes of Grouse Mountain! So, I brought along my wetsuit "just in case." The water temperature was 9'C (48'F). That is very cold to my liking. In contrast, the temperature of the Channel will be 15-17'C at the end of July. Be that as it may, acclimitization to cold water will be critical to my success. Swimming in a 25'C pool will simply not cut it. So, dressed in a neoprene triathlon suit, I took the plunge and swam for 30 minutes. At first, the cold took my breathe away, but after a minute of sprinting, I got into a comfortable rhythm. While I was out there, it started to pour rain. There is no better place in than the ocean when precipitation is falling. I could hear the rain pelting the surface of the water. Crazy as it may seem, the sound of rain on the surface of the water is very comforting. Following my 2km swim, I raced for the cold shower (felt warm in comparison to the ocean), rinsed off and blasted the heat in my car to warm up. I was pleased with my recovery time and I only suffered mild symptoms of hypothermia--most notably a loss of fine motor control which makes dressing a little more cumbersome. My next ocean swim is in a few weeks where I hope the temperature will break the 10'C barrier. I still have some speed swimming goals to achieve before I fully convert to open water guy.