Funny you mention cramp… on the third lap it was the first time I’ve ever had cramp in an OWS, it was in my foot.
Had it a bit in a pool pushing off walls but never in open water.
The lake is semi shaded, it was toasty, cold 
all the way around the lap… like a temperature Zebra if that makes any sense.
Oh… also reaffirmed how buoyant salt water is… never realised until this last week… very salty is almost better than a wetsuit.
Oh they said their limit for wetsuites was 26.x
Down the local lake ( only 5 minutes from me which is nice)
Twice this week and twice next week in what I’m laughably calling preparation for Steelman. Been over a year since I swam so it’s not pretty. 3 laps yesterday which is around 1200m.
Absolutely sublime today. The best swimming conditions I’ve ever experienced in the UK. No need for the wetsuit and did 2km. Noting how poor my swimming is at the moment. I was only a couple seconds /100m slower without it. Just a perfect morning.
Similar experience for me this morning, but no pictures.
Wore that Zone3 knee-skin which was great in bridging the gap between flapping about without any buoyancy & slow cooking in a wetsuit… thoroughly recommended.
Managed to get out before things got too busy with knobbers on SUPs.
Yep, I’ve been in this since mid-May. Other advantage is it’s easier to get out of if it is chilly out of the water, so quicker to get the DryRobe on 
Big fan of that knee skin too
Certainly a bit of fomo missing a swim today.
The shitty water in that Swansea dock will have to suffice tomorrow.
Get out to Caswell or Langland for a dip instead. Not far from the city centre!
Another 45mins outdoors this morning. Quite busy, and quite slow. Having never really had any issues before, on all my (3, ha) outdoor swims this year I’ve had bad rubbing on my neck. I know exactly which bit of the wetsuit is causing it and why, but don’t seem to be able to do anything about it - the thick bit where the velcro fastens is just sitting in a crease in my neck, basically (I have a skinny neck so the suit isn’t as tight to the skin at the back as it ideally should be).
Half a stick of bodyglide definitely helped today, but still feel it now. Would a strip of kinesio tape work along the back of my neck work as an alternative maybe? Sore to rip off in T1 though, although it might also help avoid getting my neck sunburnt on the bike 
I wear a high neck rash vest under my wetsuit for pretty much all of my OW training.
In races I slather vaseline on any points there might be friction, or were it might speed up my T1.
I used baby oil gel as it also helped on legs and arms to speed up removal, but vaseline for rubbing is the best bet
Check the zips and the tri suit underneath too, add a huge dob of Vaseline
The day before it was like a mirror, not a ripple… typical.
Back home now.
Guy missing in the sea off Flamborough Head. Was really rough last week. Experienced swimmer, went in from the beach and just disappeared. Still not found nearly a week later.
Had his family on the beach with him
Seems strange the tide hasn’t washed him up somewhere along the coast unless he’s managed to get snagged.
But not sounding good.
Yeah no idea. A friend of mine who flys a drone professionally happened to be there at the time and there was no sight of him. They searched the immediate area for 2 days.
Hope for the families sake he turns up at some point but I don’t see any way it’s anything other than a recovery mission.
Turns out there’s an outdoor pool at our new place too… apparently I may be able to use it out of hours, April to October 
A somewhat chillier experience than Doha no doubt
I actually made it to the lake today, cool and overcast when I got there but the water was a pleasant 21c
almost fancied jumping in after my bike and run as the sun had got out and was quite warm.
Despite the breeze it was flat calm due to the direction.
still off putting when you see a scuba diver below you and the bubbles rising 
So it turns out when you concentrate on body position, kick and stroke, you do actually go faster
I have to be the laziest swimmer.
Managed 15 minutes treading water in the sea (Newquay, not Newcastle).
Hopefully that’s my acclimatisation for Helvellyn in 2 weeks.
