[Tuna-Fish]

> Similarly, cold water will shut me down frighteningly fast—even with a wetsuit and lifejacket, I've been stunned into near immobility after less than a minute of swimming.

As someone who routinely goes swimming in a hole cut in ice with the water temperature typically around 1C, this sounds weird. I suppose it's a reaction you can teach your body to not have?

[mjlee]

You can acclimatise to it but cold shock response is a very real thing. The first minute is the most important - you're lucky to survive long enough to die of hypothermia.

[Tuna-Fish]

The typical way people swim among ice is to first just dip yourself, get up from the water, hang out for like a minute, then go back in there. I wonder if this has something to do with it?

[kiiski]

You don't get your face/head wet when ice swimming, I suppose?

[Tuna-Fish]

I generally don't dip my ears below the surface because ear infections are a risk, but I certainly get my face wet.