
What it feels like to swim in sub-zero waters - neonate
https://www.1843magazine.com/travel/taste-the-fear/what-it-feels-like-to-swim-in-subzero-waters
======
mikestew
Back 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."

~~~
nradov
Mario 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
"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.

~~~
hermitdev
Or it's in shallow water. I once fell through ice over a frozen creek and was
close to hypothermia before I found another camp group after I'd been
inadverntently left behind by my parents during a winter camping trip (each of
my parents thought I was with the other). I was soaked in about 10F temps, but
I was able to warm up, but not dry out, next to a fire. I was 9 or 10 at the
time.

~~~
dunstad
Holy hell, that must have been frightening. What was going through your head
at the time?

------
jnurmine
Ice 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
This 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
This 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.

------
shem73
Finland 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
I think the difference is that he swam 1 kilometer in the -3 water. I don't
think the old ladies do that.

~~~
TimTheTinker
Note for Americans (and some island nations) - that's 26.6° F.

------
jdietrich
If 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/)

------
slr555
I 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.

~~~
sjg007
Another issue is heart attacks. These polar plunges usually have paramedics
nearby.

------
caseymarquis
I 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
I 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.

------
js2
Lynne Cox did a one mile swim (25 minutes) in Antartic waters (32°F) in 2003:

[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/swimming-to-
antarctica-12-02-20...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/swimming-to-
antarctica-12-02-2003/)

She swam in even colder Arctic waters (26.6°F) for 5m26s in 2007:

[http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/Lynne-
Cox/lynn...](http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/Lynne-Cox/lynne-
cox-story)

Her book is a fun read:

[https://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Antarctica-Long-Distance-
Swi...](https://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Antarctica-Long-Distance-Swimmer-
Awards/dp/0375415076)

------
rapnie
You 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
I 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.

------
jandrese
We 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
If 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
Interesting. 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
I presume it's about preparing for the pain of the actual birthing process.

------
refurb
I 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
Welcome to swimming in Lake Michigan!

~~~
hermitdev
Several 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.

------
smcameron
Have 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.

------
steve_adams_86
Sometimes 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.

------
Braighni
"Fat is a good insulator but so is muscle"

I never thought of that

------
sharadov
I'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.

~~~
sjg007
It’s probably adrenaline and natural opioids in your brain.

~~~
sharadov
That's probably true, but unlike an intense workout session,where the affects
are temporary, in this case were more longer, for a couple days.

------
grawprog
>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.

------
Hasz
I'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.

------
wildduck
Have 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.

------
irrational
Dang. And I thought outdoor high school swim meets in Fort Lauderdale Florida
in November were cold ;-)

~~~
hermitdev
Pffft. 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
Sure, but immersion in pretty cold water is different than immersion in very
cold air, since air has way lower heat capacity than water does.

------
kgwxd
Pain, panic, shock, bring it on. Re-ascension of the testis, pass.

------
runnr_az
Interesting story... I always wonder how people fund these things.

------
sunstone
A breath taking experience no doubt.

------
growlist
Cold?

------
golemotron
Clicked hoping it was 0F.

~~~
quickthrower2
Was hoping for 0K myself.

~~~
ncmncm
Eh, I thought it was OK.

------
rmason
In 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/20...](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/)

~~~
frickinLasers
If 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
Actually 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.

~~~
anamexis
Those are air temperatures, not water. Being fresh water, the liquid water is
not below 32F/0C.

~~~
dancek
Nit: flowing water does go below 0°C without freezing, as does water with
impurities (sea water).

