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That sounds just like my ordeal! I managed to get a cheap swim skin second hand but I'm glad I didn't need it.
You sound very similar to me. I get chilly at indoor pools nevermind outside. I don't feel comfortably warm unless the water is above 20C. Any colder than that and I need a wetsuit and neoprene cap.
Also, I totally believe I have a buoyancy problem. I'm not a fast swimmer, but I refuse to believe my technique is so bad that fat people can swim quicker! They just float better. :P
lreilly
Sorry I didn't post earlier but I missed the wetsuit discussion.
This whole worry about warm water happened to me at IMCH in 2010. Predicted high water temps and multiple threats about banning wetsuits. At the time I'd never swum OW without a wetsuit and with close to zero body fat was worried about buoyancy. In an attempt to build some confidence I raced a local 3.8k swim race with no wetsuit and was fine until the evening sun dipped behind the trees, at which point I started haemorrhaging warmth. I finished the race but c. 25% slower than normal. My mates saw me finish but were getting worried when they hadn't seen me for a while and eventually found me still in my trunks and shivering in the back of my car with no recollection of how I got there of anything else in the past hour. Now shit scared, and only a couple of days before the race I dropped £300 one of those swim skin suits (not sure if they are still legal) in the hope that it would help retain at least some warmth.
Come race morning they made the decision that wetsuits would be allowed, so it was all a big fuss over nothing... I still have that swim skin in my wardrobe somewhere... never worn.
Stupid IMCH.