Icy Water

What is the lowest temperature in which you can swim? Personally, I don't know yet, but it's definitely above 46F!!!

Last night I had a group open water swim in Lake Ontario. I really wanted that last swim in before the race on Saturday, and by the number of people who showed up, I was not alone!

We've had a very nice weather in the last month, always close to 30C (around 86F), but I suppose it doesn't affect the water temperature that much. Maybe there was a storm on the lake the day before...or currents or winds...

A week ago, the temperature readings were around 70F. It was perfect. Not too cold for the extremities, not too warm for wearing a wetsuit.

Yesterday, the readings were at 45.9F. I should have checked before going (I'm not sure I would have believed it). But hey, water was perfect just a couple of days before! Apparently nobody checked, and we were all expecting a nice pleasant swim.

We arrived at the beach, about 20 ppl in their wetsuits, ready to plunge.
-20 people touch the water with their toes
-General reaction: Arggg! It's wayyy too cold!
-6 people get water up to their waist (including me)
-2 people turn back (including me), 4 try to start swimming (the tough ones)
-4 people try to jump in again (Including me...hey I really wanted to swim!)
-They all turn back
-And the 4 trying to swim come back after 2 minutes (the tough ones)

How does 45.9F water feels? It was definitely much colder than in June. I'm not sure if the reading was good, but was certainly not far from that. I've bailed out at 55 degrees, but it was more because of comfort rather than capacity. Yesterday, I knew I would not be able to swim at all in that water.
After 30 seconds with my feet in the water, I couldn't feel them anymore. After 1 minute, they were burning. When I tried to put my hands in the water, it hurt. I had to shake my hands out of the water to get them back to normal.

So bye bye the last open water swim before the race. Oh well, it's not like I've never done it...Now I just have to cross my fingers for a good enough water temp on race day! Please cross some fingers for me too! :)