where do you swim in alaska?

[AKStafford]

Originally Posted by Dakster

What is the water temp? An Alaskan's definition is probably different than a Floridians.

Pretty darn cold... You have to work your way into it. But it's doable.

[Lunabell]

We have people who surf down here in Homer. In the winter because the waves are better. Personally, I stick to the local pool.

[Dakster]

Originally Posted by AKStafford

Pretty darn cold... You have to work your way into it. But it's doable.

Still sounds like you gotta be a hard core surfer or swimmer to do that. Or hungry for gold and even those folks have heated scuba suits.

I "dream home" shopped and noticed some of the houses in the higher range had indoor, heated, swimming pools.

[usafracer]

At the Alaska Club.

[starlite9]

Well swimming between Maypril and Septober, is in the water mostly, after Septober, the water is a bit hard.

The real danger though is when the snow eels are migrating and they can bite and inject frostbite on the lower extremities.

I'd stick to swimming in the city or school indoor pools, much safer.

[richelles]

To be brutally honest swimming in anything less than bathtub temperature water shows a serious lack of survival skills. Any one should know that cold water creates something called hypothermia which is fatal to the human body in a short period of time. How long can a person survive in 32 degree water without some form of a survival suit?

[Dakster]

Originally Posted by richelles

To be brutally honest swimming in anything less than bathtub temperature water shows a serious lack of survival skills. Any one should know that cold water creates something called hypothermia which is fatal to the human body in a short period of time. How long can a person survive in 32 degree water without some form of a survival suit?

According to hypothermia charts not long...

32.5F <15 minutes to unconscious and about 45 minutes to death.

The interesting thing is 60-70F water you get 2-7 before becoming unconscious and 7-40 hours before death. Notice at one point even in 70F water, you will die.

70-80F you get 3-12 hours before nodding out, and you could still die, but you could live. Kind of the tipping point in that range. I would suspect a healthy adult would be able to survive a long time in 80F water.

Sources:

Resources
Hypothermia Gives Me the Shivers (5:39), Aired 2/17/10
1.1 MB mp3 | Stream
Hypothermia 101 (Dec. 2009 Seiche newsletter)
Mayo Clinic
Hypothermia - MayoClinic.com
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Hypothermia-Related Deaths --- United States, 1999--2002 and 2005
Pozos, R. and L. Wittmers (eds.). 1983. THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF HYPOTHERMIA. 1983. University of Minnesota
The work of Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht.
http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/ki...iesbrecht.html
1Giesbrecht, G. G., D. I. Sessler, I. B. Mekjavic, M. Schroeder and G. K. Bristow. 1994. Treatment of mild immersion hypothermia by direct body-to-body contact. Journal of Applied Physiology 76(6) 2373-2379.

2Hultzer, M.V., X. Xu, C. Marrao, G. Bristow, A. Chochinov, G. G. Giesbrecht. 2005. Pre-hospital torso-warming modalities for severe hypothermia: a comparative study using a human model. Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine 7(6): 378-386.

[bortstc37]

I only go swimming if the water is in the low/mid 40s or above, and even then it's usually only for 10 or 15 minutes. Then you dry off and put clothes back on. No big deal.
Lounging in the wind on the beach while still wet is not recommended.