[jlgreco]

"In water chilled to 50 degrees F, an Olympic swimmer was able to hold his breath for only 10 seconds. Another Olympian, this one a silver medalist, was able to breast stroke for about 7 minutes before she lost all muscle control and devolved into a slowly undulating tangle of limbs. Message received."

Can anyone find a source for this? I've swam in some seriously cold water (partially iced over lake water, I don't know how cold it was) and it is really stunningly bad, but that seems rather off. The best I can find (some USCG powerpoint about surviving airplane crashes in water) has lack of muscle control beginning at around 10-15 minutes, which seems more in line with what I have experienced.

[satori99]

I don't have a source, but the same thing was explained to me during a sea survival course. It was a requirement to be able to enter a Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

This course included spending time in a very cold pool in full gear and attempting to activate and enter an inflatable life raft (over and over, and in the dark).

I was reasonably insulated but not in a survival suit, and I lost virtually all muscle control after about 15-20mins.

The shivers left me so weak I could barely climb the ladder out of the pool.

The instructor explained to me that this was the major point of the exercise. The right strategy is to try to minimize heat loss by bringing your knees up to your chest and not moving much (Assuming you have floatation).