Today was our first real taste of Old Man Winter. The air temperature was a crisp 22F at 7:00am out at L1, and the lake temperature (surface) came in at an even 40.F. However, the official in-swim reading broke through the floor and registered a consistent 38.8F – so we’re finally in the “winter zone.”
I got in just under 1/2 mile with a neoprene shorty along with a hood, gloves, and booties. Apart from the initial sting on my exposed legs and forearms, I was quite comfortable after a couple of minutes. But the post-swim scramble followed by the inevitable afterdrop were a bit of a challenge.
Still, we had a very calm lake and an amazing show to the east as the pics below show!
![](http://openwaterchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/04Dec2022_1.png)
![](http://openwaterchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/04Dec2022_2.png)
![](http://openwaterchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/04Dec2022_3.png)
![](http://openwaterchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/04Dec2022_4.png)