Mona  has forwarded an additon to the Open Water Swim Training Diary page. Notes, Commments, Suggestions are below: 
First Name: Mona

Question/Comment: 
At the beach, I tried going into the water without a wetsuit but it was colder 
than last week--cold enough to hurt at first, so I went back and struggled into my wetsuit. Our 
extra lifeguard, jock, helped me to get the sleeves up to my shoulders and zipped up the back. 
Coach Kelvin gave me an orange bathing cap so I’d be more visible in the water. 

The water was only about 62 F. or 15 C. It took a while to get used to the water and I found 
myself pulling down the wetsuit sleeves to cover my hands more. I suppose there are swimming 
gloves, too. And when I put my face into it I started to get an “ice-cream headache.” But 
these things pass. Cold or not, I had to let some water in at the ankles, wrists, and neck 
so the suit would loosen up and move more easily. 

The other swimmers (Anthony, Arthur, Laura, Lynda, Phil, and a few others) were warmed up 
and stepping up the intensity but I just tried to keep them in sight. I made a shorter loop
 than the others. Even so, I swam too fast and got out of breath. I stopped to breathe. 
This time I was careful not to hyperventilate and I kept moving slowly so as not to get 
seasick. I got frustrated with my frequent stops and lack of progress. So I switched to 
other strokes: side stroke and breast stroke, even back stroke. The suit is so tight that 
it’s hard to do well any stroke that calls for bending the legs. Then I did a slower lap 
around the temporary buoys that we use for markers while the experienced swimmers made a 
much larger loop. That was better so I got a little farther and felt smoother. 

Arthur brought his underwater camera and took some pictures of the swimmers 

Referred by: 2008-07-04