The open water swimming waiting game…

The first warm beams of sunshine liven our bodies, the tulips show their faces and the sea glitters above the big blue sky. So what do we do? We open the windows, find our shorts and move our morning coffee outside but…

 ‘It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade‘

Charles Dickens. Great Expectations (Chapter 54).

Open Water Swim Season

I do it myself, I get a bit overexcited when I feel Spring. Its brings the hope that longer, lazier summer sea swims are nearly here, but every year I need to remind myself just to wait a little bit longer. March sea temperatures (in the South West) are the coldest of the year, and April temperatures are not a great deal warmer.

I think of the sea in March as being so cold simply because it’s got the whole of the winter behind it and none of the summer heat. So here are the average sea temperatures for Teignmouth so you can plot the monthly changes yourself . Mind, it is much harder mentally to persuade yourself into a cold January sea on a wild miserable day, than a freezing sea on a glorious sunny March day.

• March – 9 C
• April – 10.1 C
• May – 11.6 C
• June – 13.7 C
• July – 15.8 C
• August – 16.8 C
• September – 16.5 C
• October – 15.3 C
• November – 13.8 C
• December – 11.8 C
• January – 9.7 C
• February – 9.3 C

If you like stats – I’m a bit of a nerd myself – have a look at https://www.seatemperature.org. I can’t help having a bit of a click, I like to check out the temperatures around the world. It’s good to know that it’s 23.2 C at Bondi Beach right now and 9.7 C in Teignmouth.

So, if you’ve been hankering to sea swim this year, but have been waiting patiently for a warmer water, I would recommend you just wait a little bit longer…

The official open water swim season is from May – September, when the swim areas are marked by buoys and the water companies are legally bound to declare pollution warnings.

Many of us do swim through the winter – cold water therapy is very popular right now – managing our risks accordingly and you can, by all means, begin sea swimming when it’s super cold, but it is an easier start to start submerging in slightly warmer water (and my warmer I still mean its cold but not really really cold!).

Happy swimming!