Winter Ocean Swimming

Most of us living in the upper midwest think of Florida as being always hot and sunny, even in the winter.  But that polar vortex thingamajiggy got everything all mixed up.

When I was there last week, there were several cold, windy days.  However, I never let any of that stop me from swimming in the ocean.  My brother is trying to swim in the ocean 100 days each year, so he was willing to go with me.  I guess any days you can go in January are bonus, even if they're cold.

We got to the beach and the wind was quite strong.  There weren't very many people out, but anyone who was, seemed to be bundled up.  Unless they were young.  It didn't matter to us.  We stripped down to our bathing suits and ran into the water.  (My brother told me it helped on cold days to just keep moving.)

The water was so cold that it took my breath away literally.  I only managed to dive under twice before I turned around and began to walk out slowly. Amazingly enough, my brother continued on and swam for another five or ten minutes before getting out.

Even more amazing, the water was so cold that the air suddenly didn't feel so frigid.  I've never done one of the Polar Dips in a frozen lake, but maybe I should try it.  After all, I'm trying to widen my horizons.  It might not be so bad.