Open Water Swim FAQ

I wrote this FAQ for my Open Water Swim Facebook group.

Welcome to the Western Washington Open Water Swim Facebook Group.  The FAQ below is to help you get started in Open Water Swimming. Feel free to read it and then ask questions that aren’t answered here.  We are a social group with a swimming problem and always happy to meet new swimmers or potential swimmers.

Where do I swim?

Almost any body of water can be a swimmable body of water.  Some of the more popular places to swim around Seattle include:

Alki beach- start at the bathhouse and swim to the lighthouse and back

Golden Gardens- beware of strong current around the point to the north

Greenlake- Start at the bathhouse and swim to the rec center and back, or vice versa

Lake Smammish

Lake Washington- Madison beach is popular, swimming south, away from the 520 bridge. People also like to swim around the Seward Park peninsula. Much, if not all of Lake Washington is swimmable

Martha Lake

Wherever you swim, start out swimming parallel to shore and don’t go too far from your exit point. You can always do “laps” if you want to swim longer.

What do I wear?

At a minimum a bathing suit, cap and goggles are necessary.  Brands and styles of all of these are a matter of personal preference. Buy what you can afford, and don’t sweat fashion too much. Once you are in the water, no one really sees what you are wearing. The exception to that is the cap. A BRIGHT colored cap makes you more visible to boaters and other swimmers, and adds a degree of safety to your excursion.

Additional gear you might like:

Wetsuit- buy a suit designed for triathletes so you have the most mobility possible while swimming. These are usually thicker (3-5mm) on your torso and thinner (1-3 mm) on your arms. Some people think a wetsuit is essential for the temperatures in our waters here, others find them too restrictive to swim in.  It really is a matter of personal preference and no one can decide for you if a wetsuit is needed or not. Long or short on the sleeves and legs is also personal preference. Buy what you can afford and what makes you feel safe and comfortable. Blue Seventy is a local to Seattle company. Xtera also makes triathlon wetsuits.  One swimmer said this about wetsuits: “For me wearing a wet suit makes me feel warmer and I swim faster. Going skin makes me feel tough, strong and determined. Both choices are good things.”

Neoprene booties and/or gloves- like the wetsuit this is a matter of personal preference. They are pretty easy to find at the local dive shops, and often are made by major wetsuit manufacturers. Blue Seventy for example.  They will keep your feet and hands marginally warmer.  Booties also will protect your feet from all but the sharpest of debris on the ocean or lake floor.

Neoprene cap- some like to wear a neoprene cap to keep their head warmer. These also are available in dive shops, and often have a strap that goes under your chin. Most neoprene caps come in black, so folks still wear a brightly colored latex or silicone swim cap over them for visibility.

Earplugs- for some reason earplugs can help with both warmth and potential motion sickness for swimmers, and are therefore highly recommended. They also may help prevent some types of swim related ear infections. You can buy waxy ones at local drug stores (Bartells, Wallgreens) or you can buy swim specific earplugs from swim stores.  The goal is to keep water out of your ears. They do reduce what you can hear while they are in.

Swim Buoy- This is a brightly colored inflatable buoy that you wear tethered to a strap around your waist. The goal of the buoy is to increase your visibility in the water, so boaters, other swimmers, and/or your friends on shore can spot you more easily. Some buoys come with a dry bag feature, so you can take valuables (car keys, phone, etc) with you and not leave them on the beach. These buoys are inflatable, so are not life saving devices, but can be used to support a swimmer who needs to adjust equipment or take a brief rest.

Anti-chaffing cream- Body Glide, Vaseline, zinc oxide or similar may be useful for you if you are going for longer swims and/or swimming in salt water. Put it any place your skin might rub with other skin or with your gear. Wetsuit swimmers often have issues with their necks. Skin swimmers with their armpits.

How do I handle the cold?

The best tip for handling the cold is to take your time to get used to the cold.  That means starting with a shorter swim than you might think—10-15 min without a wetsuit, 15-20 with—and working your way up. You may easily swim an hour in the pool, but the outdoor waters in the Pacific Northwest are much colder than your typical pool, most of the year. Your body will, over time, acclimatize to colder waters, and you will be able to swim for longer and longer.  Start slow.

The second tip for the cold is to get out of your wet gear as quickly as you can after you get out of the water.  Don’t plan to drive home in your bathing suit. If there aren’t changing facilities around, wrap a towel around you and do a “deck change”. Staying in the cold wet suit (especially women’s one piece suits) will continue to chill you.

Everyone has their own routine for re-warming after a swim. Many enjoy hot beverages, hot showers or baths, small microwaveable or chemical heat packs (like you would use for an injury) placed on their core, or exercises for the large muscle groups (squats, burpees, etc).

How do I stay safe?

There are no promises of safety in Open Water Swimming.  These are things you can do to reduce your risk:

Swim with a friend, or have a friend spot you from shore.

Swim parallel to shore.

Wear a bright colored cap and/or tow a buoy to stay visible.

Let wildlife have the right of way- we are visiting their home turf, don’t pursue or touch animals.

Be ready to re-warm when you get out of the water.

Use your best judgement, when in doubt, get out (of the water). If you think you are too cold, the animal is too close, the waves are too strong, or whatever, turn back and get out. Better to live to swim another day.

Intermediate Swimmer

I couldn't make my usual weekend swim at Alki, but a stranger had posted on Facebook that she wanted to swim at Greenlake, so we arranged a meet-up. Turns out although she's a really experienced open water swimmer, this was her first time in water under 60 degrees.

Her desire and instinct was to run in and run out, so she never warmed up. I encouraged her to stay in and use her motion to generate heat to warm up.  She wasn't wearing ear plugs, and I suggested that they would help keep her warmer.  We had other chats about acclimatization and how to increase your cold water endurance and how to rewarm after (bath not shower, get the wet suit off as fast as possible, etc).

At the end, her spouse thanked me for sharing my wisdom on the topic.

Two years of experience with Puget Sound meas I've learned enough to teach others. I think this makes me a solid, intermediate, swimmer. I still have a lot to learn to be "expert" but it is fun to feel out of the "novice" category.

Making Movies at Crescent Lake.

I'm back out on the Olympic Peninsula for work. A beautiful place that I am so lucky to get the State of Washington to pay for me to visit.  For some reason I totally miscalculated the amount of time it would take me to do the drive, so I arrived a good 2.5 hours before my meeting.  Luckily, I'd stashed my swimsuit in the car.  So I took off for Crescent Lake.

The area was quiet, but I parked and walked over to the lodge to change.  Oblivious as I am, I passed a sign that said "C1osed Set" [sic].  I didn't know what it meant, so I just walked on.  The front porch of the lodge looked like a rest stop on some long hiking trip. Tons of packs and food and a few rugged looking people.  The weather was wet, so most people were wearing fleece and rain jackets (this is the Pacific Northwest, so people wear that in the city too).

I didn't think much of it, figuring it was a place that backpackers used when needing to come into civilization or something. The Lodge clearly was closed as a restaurant and shop, unlike in the high season.

I walked in and changed into my suit.  I put my gear out on the porch among all the disarray, and went to get into the water.

As I approached, this was the scene on the dock.

A woman approached me and said "we are filming a movie and really can't have anyone on the dock."  I was unfazed, and went to enter the water from the rocky shore. Another person approached to say something similar, and I assured him that I wouldn't interfere with the shot.

He said their actor was a little wary of the temperature of the water, and he asked if I was going to wear a wetsuit.  I said no, but that I knew my body was acclimatized to cold water. I said I thought it was about 46, which is the same as Puget Sound, so I was fine.  Then I joked that if they needed a stunt double for the actor, I could fill in.

And off I sawm.  Boy was it glorious.

The first two minutes were the hardest. I just wanted to turn back. But the film crew watching me kept me going.  And I'm glad I did.  I warmed up. And I loved it.  The water was so still that I was the only creature making ripples, and I could watch them go across the whole lake.

I stayed in about 22 min, which was perfect.  I got a bit cold after getting dressed, but since I had no shower and the Lodge was not heated, I'd say that wasn't too big of a deal.

I talked to the movie staff again on my way out.  They said that technically this was a closed set, so no one not affiliated with the movie was supposed to be there.  OH, that's what that sign had meant!! I guess I don't have movie set cultural competence to know what it meant. However, they also welcomed me to watch from a distance. But I needed to get warm.  So I changed and left.

I'm really glad I made the trip out for a swim in my favorite Olympic National Park lake! And I'll look for the swim scene in "Light Me Up" if it ever comes to Seattle!

Warmth and ear plugs

People have often told me that ear plugs keep you warmer in cold water. The idea is that the cold water hitting your ear drum makes you much colder than if you avoid this. It didn't seem all that believable to me.  But I decided to give it a try, as I've been having a hard time swimming with my face in the water. I get "ice cream" headaches, and therefore revert to head up breaststroke.

So I used some old silicone ear plugs I had sitting around. I hate how they muffle all sounds. BUT, I was much warmer.  My toes didn't get cold. And I was able to do my longest Alki swim to date with my face in the water most of the time. So perhaps it makes a difference. I will have to try the earplugs that advertise they preserve the ability to hear.

Mental Fortitude and Consent

Back in the water after two weeks off for my Flying Clinic. It was HARD to get back in. Getting into the cold water really is a mental game.  It was like all my mental fortitude was gone. Perhaps I used up all my emotional and mental strength on the flying. As I stood there, contemplating the water, waist deep, I even said, "I confronted my biggest fear last weekend and now can't convince myself to get into cold water this weekend."  I seriously contemplated getting out. But I want to participate in the Democratic Caucus next weekend, so will likely miss that swim. So if I want to swim in March. This is the one.

I watched a sealion swim by, it looked happy to be in the water. I wanted to join it.

One of my swim buddies told the story that she heard at the Duwamish Longhouse.  That when one enters the water, they should ask permission of the water to swim. I love the idea of getting the consent of the water for you to be there.  It seems that if the water consents, it is more likely to ensure your safety.

I ask for consent from the water. It took a few tries before it agreed.

For a good five minutes I stood there.  Shivering. Doing all the self-talk I could muster. Go, Rebecca. You'll be glad you did.  I splashed myself with water.  Got colder and colder.  The air temp was probably 55, so warm, but not with the water and wind. I watched other swimmers enter and swim off.  And finally, I got my consent, swore with a child-friendly swearword (fudgsicle) and swam off.

And it was delightful.

I felt like I could swim forever.

I swam to the third staircase (half mile round trip) and loved every minute of it.  I felt cold but I never felt too cold.  It was magical.

Oh yeah, this is why I swim!!

Swimming farther

Last week's experiment in body temperature helped me see that I can increase my time in the water. And if I do regular temperature checks, I'll be able to push my limits and see where the threshold for too long is.  I'm sure the time to temp drop is not a linear scale, as the act of swimming generates body heat.  The harder I swim the more heat I generate.  So bigger waves or stronger current might actually help keep me warmer.

This did let me swim further this time.  I matched my "furthest" swim at Alki!  Last time I did that distance I was wearing a wetsuit. So this became my furthest swim in skin!  How far? To the third set of stairs!! How far is that? Well, a half mile.  I hope to keep pushing further.

Here's the map:

The red arrow marks the bath house where we start.  The blue arrows point out two sets of stairs, and the green arrow marks the third set, where I turned around this time.  The stairs are .1 mile, .2 mile, and .25 miles from the bath house respectively.  Making this a net .5 mile swim.

The eventual goal is to swim to the light house!

Again, the red arrow marks the bath house. The green arrow is the light house, .6 miles away from the bath house for a 1.2 mile round trip.  Since that is more than double what I'm swimming now, I will need to work up to it, not so much for distance, but for time in the water.  I was easily doing 1.5 miles or 2 miles prior to my injury last July. I don't think it would take me long to build that distance if I weren't so worried about the cold.  So I'll build slowly and see how my cold tolerance builds.

How Cold Is It?

After a few months of swimming from Alki with the Notorious Alki Swimmers, I've become fascinated by the issues around getting cold and warming up again. I've watched other swimmers spend 15-20 min post swim in a teeth-chattering shiver, which can't be good.  My goal has been to avoid ever getting THAT cold.

I've been reading up on hypothermia and cold water, to try to get a sense of where the limits are, how long I can stay in the water and be ok.  One thing I've noticed is that all the writing is about people ACCIDENTALLY ending up in cold water. Not those who intentionally do so!

My initial reading on hypothermia took me to the Mayo Clinic site and their list of symptoms.  What became clear, as I was reading, was that it can be hard for the person with hypothermia to recognize it, because one of the symptoms is fuzzy headedness or confusion. This is scary, so I can get this thing, and not even know I have it!

All this made me slightly anxious that I was taking a foolish risk with my swimming.  At the same time, I'm one of about 20 people who do it weekly, and many of the others stay in the water a LOT longer than I do.

So where is the line?  How will I know if I'm getting too cold?  Can I know when I'm IN the water, or will I only know with hindsight? Most websites on the topic says that hypothermia sets in when the body temperature is 95* (F) or lower. (There is mild, moderate and severe hypothermia, but I'll talk about those some other time.

My research took me to the LoneSwimmer blog, where the author has asked these questions and attempted to answer them with science.   The chart below is from that blog and provided me some comfort.

Alki is usually around 10* C. So this gives me a safe zone of just under an hour in the water, and a marginal zone of three hours.  That would expand my swim range significantly, from the current 20-25 min.

The author of LoneSwimmer also pointed me to research that shows that there is no long-term negative effect of MILD hypothermia (the author has an in depth discussion of this topic as well). This may give me permission to push a bit further.

But the question remains, am I getting hypothermia on my current swims?

So I took a thermometer with me to Alki last week.  Here's what I learned:

Before the swim (at home) temp 97.3 (yes, this is normal for me, I'm always a bit low)

Before the swim (at the beach) temp 96.8. 

After the swim (at the beach) temp 95.3.

After the swim (at home, about 45 min later) temp 97.3.

What does this all mean?  

First, I lost about a degree and a half in the water for 20 min or so (I swam to the second set of stairs, and there was little to no current). With a low "normal" body temperature, I'm not sure hypothermia, for me, will be at the precise 95 degrees. I'm guessing that it has more to do with lowering the body temp 3.6 degrees (from 98.6 to 95) then a set 95. But this is just a guess, I'd love to find research that supports it. If I could lose up to 3.5 (for rounding sake) degrees and still be ok, then a body temp as low as 93.8 would put me into the hypothermic zone. 

Second, I'm losing a half a degree just between home and the beach.  We often spend a bit of time hanging out waiting for people to gather and working up the nerve to get cold.  My body is cooling in that time. I may want to work even harder to stay warm in that phase.

Lastly, I rewarmed by the time I finished the drive home.  With no adverse effect.

For this to go from anecdote to data, I'll need to add some data points. Will continue doing the temp checks, before and after swimming for a few weeks. Stay tuned for updates. 

Getting Warmer...

The plan for this week's swim was to "hyper warm" before the swim and see if that helped with my time in the water.  The short answer is, it did!

Here's what I did... Prior to swimming I tried to keep my body warm. This started when I got out of bed, immediately putting on sweatpants and a sweatshirt, even though the house was comfortable. Then I kept the heat up in the car on the way to the swim, and wore a puffy jacket and hat until the moment I put on my swim gear.

That's me under the arrow. You can see in the pre-swim group photo I'm still wearing my hat and coat.  I was nice and comfortable.

For the swim I wore two caps (one silicone, one latex, that's just what I had on hand) and my booties and gloves.  I swam for 25 min or so, to the second stair case. And I felt comfortable the whole time (OK, the cold side of comfortable, but still ok).

My one mistake came near the end of the swim. I started chatting with another swimmer and just gently paddling. This got me COLD.  My fingers started chilling first. I tried to make fists inside my gloves and ended up removing the gloves, which just made my fingers colder.

For the first time, I did have a small amount of the teeth chattering after the swim.  This only lasted about 30 seconds and I was able to control it.  But that is the threshold I don't want to cross. I think I would have been ok, and not had the chatters, if I'd not done the slow paddle chat and instead finished swimming. I'll know for next time!

Air Temp- 40. Water Temp- 48.

Learning about cold water

Great January 2nd swim at Alki.  Met up with the gang, got in the water, and got COLD.  Ended up feeling like my fingers were colder than I wanted them to be, so I got out. Air- 29, Water 48, time in water, about 15 min.

I've been thinking about why I got colder faster this time. It might have been the air temperature, but I'm not really sure how relevant that is when your whole body is in the water.  I think what happened can be seen in this photo.

Of the two in red sweatshirts, I'm the one on the right.  You will notice that my hands are tucked up inside my sweatshirt sleeves for the photo.  This is a sure sign that I'm feeling cold. I think I was too cold before I even got in the water.  And therefore, couldn't truly get warm from swimming.

I have a big puffy jacket that I often wear in these colder temperatures, but had realized a few weeks ago that it is so non-breathable, that the warm air from the car heater wasn't getting into it to warm me post-swim. So I left it at home. I didn't think about how it could help me pre-swim.

My goal is to try to heat my body a bit more before the swim next time, and see if that helps.  If not, I may go back to the wetsuit, so I have more time in the water.

The good news is that my fingers re-heated quickly and I maintained my fine motor skills, so I was unlikely in any real risk of frost bite. I am glad, however, that I made the decision to get out of the water when I did. The goal is always safety first!

Christmas Day Swim

Since we had the time off work, I decided to swim on December 25th.  About five of the Notorious Alki Swimmers showed up, one for the first time.  Because it was both not a work day and not a Saturday, my husband joined and took some great photos.

That's us taking a pre-swim selfie.  You can always tell the "skin" swimmers because they are still wearing street clothes in the pre-swim photo.

Then we got in.

See how I appear to be shuddering in that photo.  Yeah. It was cold. But I swam.

I actually did more face-in swimming than the last time. The water was murky, so I couldn't see much.  And the waves were stronger than they appeared.  The tide was in, so they were hitting the seawall and coming back at me. And therefore there was a bit of a "dishwasher" effect.

But it was a beautiful day to be out!!  Water, approximately 50*.  Air 39*.  Time in the water- 20 min.

This is supposed to be fun

I woke up to freezing temperatures, but a clear day.  I'd committed, in my head, to a swim, but was having a hard time convincing myself I really wanted to do so. So I had a conversation with my husband that went something like this:
Me: I don't want to go.
Him: You don't have to go.
Me: I don't want to go.
Him: You don't have to go.
Me: This is supposed to be fun. It doesn't sound fun.
Him: You don't have to go.
Me: I'm going!



Driving over, the city was socked in with fog.  My first glimpse of the water looked like this:



Seriously. That's not exactly inviting for swimming!


But I still did it. This was the group from this week, smaller than last.

I think the motto, as we entered, was "just like bathwater." 


And here's a photo of me (blue swim cap) with the space needle hovering in the background.

I ended up staying in the water for 45 min, swam to the third staircase, and felt like I could have gone longer. The water was flat and calm. The swim was amazing. I'm glad I went. I did have fun!


The wetsuit has a small hole on my hip.  I didn't feel it while swimming, but will need to fix it this week!



Air temp: 34.  Water temp: 50.

Joining the Notorious Alki Swimmers

I am thinking about revamping this blog.  The year I started it I did not successfully swim through the winter, but I'm giving it a try again this year, and I have some help.  The help comes in the form of the "Notorious Alki Swimmers". I swam with them for the second time today.  They are a (crazy) group of people who swim year round out of Alki point in West Seattle.  Today more than 20 people showed up (that arrow is pointing to me).

I was in the water for about 45 min but never got comfortable enough to put my head down and full on swim. The issue wasn't the cold. It was the chop.  The waves were high and strong. I've swum in higher, in fact two weeks ago snorkeling in the Keys the waves were higher (but the water A LOT warmer). Today I was still struggling, as the waves were coming across fast and hard.  So I did head up breast stroke.  I figure the best way to get used to waves is to swim in waves.  I never felt panicked.  But I also never relaxed enough to really swim.

Air temp  41.  Water temp 48.6!