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What it feels like to swim in sub-zero waters
- sharadov 7y agoI've tried Cryotherapy a couple of times. The first minute was cold, in a numbing sort of way, the 2nd minute you can feel the cold seeping in your bones, and the third minute I was plain shaking like a leaf. But once I was out, I felt like I was on cloud 9.
- Braighni 7y ago"Fat is a good insulator but so is muscle" I never thought of that
- refurb 7y agoI remember when I was maybe 10 years old my family went to Florida for Christmas. There was a cold snap and daytime highs were maybe 60F? Kind of rare. Anyways, I wanted to swim in the unheated outdoor pool. The thermometer said it was 50F (10C). It felt like I had been punched in the nuts after 5 seconds in the pool. Can’t imagine what 1C feels like.
- bluedino 7y agoWelcome to swimming in Lake Michigan!
- hermitdev 7y agoSeveral years ago, went sailing on a friend's dad's boat during the air and water show in mid-August. That's about when the water temp is going to hit its peak, and about 1/2 mile out from shore, it was cold enough that we could only stay in the water for 5-10 minutes at a time.
- jrs235 7y agoIf you go under water... Instant headache.
- golemotron 7y agoClicked hoping it was 0F.
- quickthrower2 7y agoWas hoping for 0K myself.
- ncmncm 7y agoEh, I thought it was OK.
- jandrese 7y agoWe make ice cream the old way with a ton of ice, some water, and rock salt. Plunging your hand into that ice bath is something everybody should do at least once. You'll get a new appreciation for the survivors of the Titanic at the very least. It's shocking just how stiff it gets, and how fast. The pain is quite severe after only a few seconds as well. It's hard to imagine anybody surviving when their entire body is submerged in something like that.
- killface 7y agoIf you take a parenting class, this exercise is often used with both partners to learn how to deal with pain/discomfort naturally. My wife could keep her hand in there for a few minutes. I was done after 30 seconds, if that.
- saganus 7y agoInteresting. Can you explain a bit more what the excersie is done? i.e., each person puts their hand in ice qater... then what? What's the explanation/link to dealing with pain? I mean, in terms of parenting.
- MFLoon 7y agoI presume it's about preparing for the pain of the actual birthing process.
- mikestew 7y agoBack in high school when myself and fellow cross-country running buddies were full of piss and vinegar, we decided one morning to jump in a high school friend's pond (with permission of course). The trick was that the water was just cold enough to have really thin veneer of ice on top. Down to our shorts, and in we go. TFA says "your body goes into shock". I guess that's the best, albeit inadequate, way to describe it. It was like my heart stopped, and whatever makes my lungs work didn't work anymore. Gave it a second, and things kicked back in...sort of. I simply cannot imagine expending anymore effort than simple survival, let alone actually swim somewhere. I mean, how you gonna swim when you can't fucking move? After a minute, we got out and our friend had towels waiting. Lessons learned: 1. That goes on my list of things "no matter how good it sounds, no matter how much peer pressure, do not EVER do that again." 2. You fall off the Titanic into the North Atlantic, you ain't gonna last long no matter what the movies tell you. Based on my one, brief experience, I wonder if I wouldn't just quickly give up and get it over with. At least death stands a chance of not being indescribably cold. 3. The guy in TFA is 100% USDA Certified Bad Ass in my book. I've been in water only slightly warmer. I literally cannot imagine attempting such a thing. It's like pulling half your spark plugs, watering down the gas, then saying, "now, go drive across town. If you break down, elephant seals will eat you."
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- nradov 7y agoMario Vittone has some great factual information about the realities of drowning in cold water. https://gcaptain.com/cold_water/ https://gcaptain.com/cold_water/
- robocat 7y ago"It is impossible to die from hypothermia in cold water unless you are wearing flotation, because without flotation – you won’t live long enough to become hypothermic." Great read.
- shem73 7y agoFinland has thousands of winter swimmers, just normal people, and Russia at least 10x more. The article makes it sound almost superhuman, whereas in real life it's something that thousands of old ladies do daily. No need to travel to the ends of the world and bring a film crew with you.
- JackFr 7y agoI think the difference is that he swam 1 kilometer in the -3 water. I don't think the old ladies do that.
- TimTheTinker 7y agoNote for Americans (and some island nations) - that's 26.6° F.
- jessewmc 7y agoI mean it could be both. I could imagine that people can become conditioned to it in such a way that they are functional in cold water if they do it on a regular basis and/or were brought up with it. But I've jumped in glacial lakes before (not on the regular) and it would become life threatening for me very quickly. It's quite scary.
- watwut 7y agoYes, you condition yourself to it. You become more resistant over time and can stay longer and longer.
- oska 7y agoRespect to Finnish and Russian winter swimmers but I think most are swimming in fresh water that is still a few degrees above freezing (under the ice), not sub-zero ocean water.
- ahje 7y agoI don't really think regular winter swimming (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_swimming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_swimming for the ones of you that are unfamiliar with it) can be compared to swimming 1 km. The former is quite common, but people rarely go for longer swims in water that cold. I'm sure SOMEONE'S done it before though. :)
- js2 7y agoLynne Cox did a one mile swim (25 minutes) in Antartic waters (32°F) in 2003: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/swimming-to-antarctica-12-02-2003/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/swimming-to-antarctica-12-02-20... She swam in even colder Arctic waters (26.6°F) for 5m26s in 2007: http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/Lynne-Cox/lynne-cox-story http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/Lynne-Cox/lynn... Her book is a fun read: https://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Antarctica-Long-Distance-Swimmer-Awards/dp/0375415076 https://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Antarctica-Long-Distance-Swi...
- rmason 7y agoIn the Midwest there are polar bear clubs where swimmers enter a lake or river in the winter. Granted they don't swim, just plunge and hurriedly exit. The guy in this story was swimming in 21 degree fahrenheit water. There are polar bear events when some years they're entering water thirty degrees colder than that! Nothing that I've ever been tempted to try. https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/life/green-sheet/2018/12/31/photos-century-polar-bear-plunges-into-lake-michigan-new-years-day-bradford-beach/2424048002/ https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/life/green-sheet/20...
- frickinLasers 7y agoIf fresh water were -9 degrees F, I suspect it would be solid ice (it could be super-cooled if it were absolutely still, but lakes and rivers are not that, and splashing in super-cooled water would turn you into a popsicle). The air temperature isn't even that cold in any of these pictures.
- rmason 7y agoActually if you read the link you'd see one of the polar bear events the temperature was -8 degrees fahrenheit. I've watched similar events on TV where they actually cut a hole in the ice to begin the event.
- jnurmine 7y agoIce swimming is an eventually nice experience if you have a sauna nearby. If you like that kind of thing, try a cryotherapy chamber too. The one I tried was a step-in kind of room/chamber and went down to -110 Celsius. Clothing: swimming trunks (with extremities protected by woolen socks, gloves and a skiing cap). One just stands in the chamber, without touching the metal walls for obvious reasons. Blinking often is advisable to avoid freezing the eyeballs (or so they said). There are three chambers with decreasing temperature, one passes through these somewhat rapidly to acclimatize. The time in the coldest chamber was 3 minutes. Before the first minute was up, I thought I was going to die there. I calmed down and just stood there blinking as if sending morse code with my eyelids, listening to the eery sounds the walls made. I felt time dilation. It felt forever between the minutes which were spoken by the operator through the internal speaker. Later, when taking a short swim, a swimming pool with the usually cold water felt very warm but made me start shivering eventually. I slept very well that night. The experience felt overall very primal somehow, on many levels. I can't quite put those feelings to words.
- TravHatesMe 7y agoThis is the first time I hear about cryotherapy. Wikipedia says that it has not been well studied. That does sound like a unique experience, I'd like to try. Why were you recommended this therapy? How long does the feeling of relief last?
- jnurmine 7y agoThis was at Haikko Manor in Finland, years ago. I just happened to visit a spa which had such a possibility. It was not for medical purposes for me, but nevertheless there was a very relaxed feeling (like that from ice swimming), which lasted for many hours afterwards.
- de_watcher 7y agoDoesn't it hurts when breathing -110 C air?
- jnurmine 7y ago
- slr555 7y agoI get so tired of the kind of hyperbole that opens this article. If an untrained person deliberately dives into 28F water mostly they get cold and quickly get out. How do I know this? Am I a physiologist? No. Am I survival expert? No. I took a trip to Antarctica and the tour operator let passengers dive into the water, swim to a nearby platform and get out. The group of braves souls was about a dozen in number and aged from mid-teens to mid-50's. I even have pictures. Yes, if you unexpectedly fall into freezing water you can involuntarily inhale and drown. Diving in, swimming a few strokes and climbing out is nowhere near invariably fatal. All the intrepid divers I saw survived unscathed.
- jdietrich 7y agoIf you ever fall into cold water, your instinct will be to swim hard. That instinct will kill you, because cold water shock causes you to involuntarily gasp for breath. The key to survival is to stop, float and wait for the shock to pass. After a minute or two, you'll regain control of your breathing and be able to shout for help or swim to safety. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OBCFEEZe1U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OBCFEEZe1U https://www.respectthewater.com/ https://www.respectthewater.com/
- sunstone 7y agoA breath taking experience no doubt.
- Hasz 7y agoI've gone cliff jumping at Saint Mary's Glacier several times, and the cold shock is real. Even with all the adrenaline, hitting the water punches the breath right out. Once the spasms pass, it's really not too bad, and honestly quite fun. That being said, if you were a weak swimmer or prone to panic, it could go very badly very quickly. Lots of respect to a guy doing it in essentially open ocean, with the added difficulty staying on course and extreme variability in conditions.
- smcameron 7y agoHave to mention Apetor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmIoZxdwLTY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmIoZxdwLTY There are a bunch more videos more or less just like that.
- caseymarquis 7y agoI twice jumped into a lake with multiple inches of ice on top for a short swim. It was for a charity event. I learned the following: when your animal brain decides your human brain isn't doing a good job, it will not hesitate to take over and save you. The experience was: 1. In the air. 2. Hit the water. 3. Several seconds with no memory. 4. Swimming at the far edge of the water, even though I did not tell my body to swim here. 5. Getting out of the water, even though I did not tell my body to get out. Instincts just took over entirely. I'm grateful the human body comes with autopilot in extreme situations. I've been saved from severe burns by the same phenomena: my instincts kicking in and dodging a plume of flaming oil that was headed for my face. I've also had this work against me. In a former life, before I was a sedentary software developer, I worked as an apprentice lineman. When climbing a telephone pole, swaying in the wind, 45 feet (~13m) in the air, my animal brain desperately wanted me to get down. Eventually, you're able to convince your brain that this is normal, but it takes some doing. We had one person get stuck in the air because they couldn't get past it.
- mywacaday 7y agoI am always impressed by my animals brain to identify anything that is heading straight for my eye, perception seems to focus in on the object, time seems to slow and you have that fraction of a second to dodge whatever was heading for your eye(most of the time). I imagine it as some kind of pre-processor for safety that evolved to protect the eye, it gets the data before the higher conscious functions do.
- irrational 7y agoDang. And I thought outdoor high school swim meets in Fort Lauderdale Florida in November were cold ;-)
- hermitdev 7y agoPffft. Outdoor swimming in Florida? Try baseball or running track in Montana. Snow is the norm, not the exception. In high school, I ran in track meets where you couldn't see from one end of the track to the other, the snow was that heavy.
- majos 7y agoSure, but immersion in pretty cold water is different than immersion in very cold air, since air has way lower heat capacity than water does.
- runnr_az 7y agoInteresting story... I always wonder how people fund these things.
- kgwxd 7y agoPain, panic, shock, bring it on. Re-ascension of the testis, pass.
- grawprog 7y ago>burns. It feels like you’re on fire. >Within the first five seconds your body goes into shock; it’s very difficult to breathe. Both of those things. It's a horrifying feeling. Your arms and legs go numb almost immediately. Every time you move your arms and legs it feels like they weigh a ton. I was only in the water about 5 minutes then around 0-1°C. I couldn't imagine swimming a kilometer like that. I've also done swift water rescue training in freezing rivers. We wore dry suits for that. But you feel it even in the dry suit.
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- rapnie 7y agoYou might be interested to read about Wim Hof, aka 'The Iceman' who can withstand extreme cold for long periods of time (e.g. Guiness record, 2hrs standing packed in ice cubes). He teaches his techniques, though he may exaggerate the beneficial health effects a tad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUQwFZ_xFdM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUQwFZ_xFdM
- mbubb 7y agoI went to a short training and a 90 ice bath but a trainer from his org. It was a great experience and taught me a lot about breathing. The whole battle for me was getting control of breath back and I could stay in the cold longer than I thought. One practice I took away from this is the ability to comfortably take a cold shower - which helps a lot with certain types of pain after exercise.
- steve_adams_86 7y agoSometimes I go into water around 2°C in a 7mm wetsuit, and when water seeps in it sends a jolt through my body. In summer I can stay in the water pretty much indefinitely (It's anywhere from 10 to 15°C, but in late winter it's usually limited to 45-60 minutes tops. 30 minutes is roughly when my hands and feet stop working. I don't know how people in norther climates swim in even colder water with no suit. I remember reading as a child about a man from China who bathed himself daily, even through winter, in cold water from a nearby stream. He'd carry a few buckets to his washing area indoors, sit in it, and clean himself. He thought it was wasteful to heat the water in winter, but it was well below 0°C. I'm a soft, weak, comfortable person.
- wildduck 7y agoHave swam in ice cold water in middle of the winter, one thing I realized is to relax my body despise the pain in core of my body.
- growlist 7y agoCold?