Water so Cold it "Stole his Breath"

[Courtenay]

Not to diminish the brave act of a police officer here in Tampa, who after seeing a woman struggling in the bay after jumping off the Howard Frankland bridge, jumped in to save her instead of waiting for the coast guard .....but, saying the bay water at 65 degrees last night took his breath away made me think of the guys in BUD/S right now, dealing with 56 degree bay water. I grew up in San Diego, the Pacific doesn't get much warmer than 65 mid summer! Florida just has no clue what COLD water is!

[moskito]

Hahahaha. 65 feels good :) I also live in San Dieo.

[9007112]

Not that I like cops, but the water might've been 55 f.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22902184/

[buonan]

I say, HOOAH to that brother officer. 55 or 65 its still not bath water. Outstanding work!

[mdwelke]

this time of year, the water is around 60 degrees. Warmer on the East side of Fl. where the gulf stream influences the temp.

[Courtenay]

Not that I like cops, but the water might've been 55 f.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22902184/

I didn't read the article, but MSN would definitely have it wrong if they listed the water temp at 55. It NEVER gets that cold in the gulf. Check the weather service water listings, they show it at 63 for that night. The local newspaper said 65.

The cop did great work, no doubt. I am not trying to diminish what he did. It just made me think of what the Navy SEALs deal with, that's all.

[moskito]

The impressive thing is that he jumped off a 35 ft drop.

[OddBall]

Yea those SEAL are spoiled alright !! I wanted to compare,..so I drove out on the lake to check and compare.....couldn`t find a spot to drop the meter in though !! 50`s 60`s huh !!

[j-vazquez]

Ya Im in Florida, and I realized just how warm the water really is when I visited my Mom in Canada...

My Brother and his friend pushed me into a creek when we were fooling around in the park one of the nights I was there...

The water was 52 degrees cold...

The coldest I had ever been in before that was like 70 degrees, if that low...

Newayz, I couldnt breahe steadily when I hit the water, I almost panicked; it was prett cool, lol...

[leahy_j]

i live by the ocean in maine. 65 degrees is nothing, i swim in the ocean during the summer and the water is so cold you start to fall asleep swimming around.

[eyte115818]

I live in Las Vegas so I have no idea what cold water is. But I would imagine that right when you hit that cold water, wouldn't you take in a gulp of it? because it was so cold?

[scormn]

i jumped in lake superior here in MN about 3 weeks ago. the air temp that day was -2 w/o wind factored. my feet froze to the rocks while i was running my *** back to the shower in the cabin. hooyah for 60 degree water

[bustafood]

Yea 65 is nothing. That's like a mid temp range out here in SoCal for the summer. I'd kill for it to be 65 right now so I could start trunking it for long periods of time again.

[mikev]

Been out wakeboarding in 52 degree water. That was fun hahaha just had on a heatertop for the windchill after you get pulled up. Initial shock is not too great...kinda just float with no talking/breathing/moving haha but after awhile you get to where you can breathe fine. And of course my buddy doesnt want to mess up the water when someone falls so he drives back as slow as possible haha a lil river touture never hurt anybody I guess haha

[infantry_scout]

Oh yeah, well it is so cold where I grew up that we would have to swim with hot potatoes in our pockets just to keep our junk from freezing off!

:)

Honestly though, good on the cop for doing what he did. It seems like most of the time they wait for somebody else to show up. I saw a car accident one time where the cop didn't even try to do any first aid on the person (had some pretty bad cuts that were bleeding a lot), but waited for the paramedics to show up.

What cop doesn't know how to control bleeding? He was just a lazy fatty that didn't like the sight of blood.

[jk.rose]

The fact that the cop jumped into the water and saved a life while risking his own life is enough for everyone to tip their hat. It doesn't matter if it was a 100 ft. drop or a 2 ft. drop, 65 degree water or 30 degree water. No one should be debating the difficulty of this act.

[supersteve]

hahah 45 degree water is coldddddd

[lisalynne10]

Not to diminish the brave act of a police officer here in Tampa, who after seeing a woman struggling in the bay after jumping off the Howard Frankland bridge, jumped in to save her instead of waiting for the coast guard .....but, saying the bay water at 65 degrees last night took his breath away made me think of the guys in BUD/S right now, dealing with 56 degree bay water. I grew up in San Diego, the Pacific doesn't get much warmer than 65 mid summer! Florida just has no clue what COLD water is!

I do know exactly what you're talking about Courtenay!!! I've been to both coasts (live not far away from the Oregon coast) and the gulf and yeah...the Pacific is chilly, in fact it's about 50 on our coastline right now, but with all the storms we've been getting the surfers are diggin' it!!! Dry suits are glorious in this case.

I remember when both "R's" went to Alaska for the cold water training....talk about c-o-l-d. I cannot imagine and sure I never will!

My hat is off to those in BUD/s right now, as well as the officer to save the woman!

[seal2besoon]

I do know exactly what you're talking about Courtenay!!! I've been to both coasts (live not far away from the Oregon coast) and the gulf and yeah...the Pacific is chilly, in fact it's about 50 on our coastline right now, but with all the storms we've been getting the surfers are diggin' it!!! Dry suits are glorious in this case.

I remember when both "R's" went to Alaska for the cold water training....talk about c-o-l-d. I cannot imagine and sure I never will!

My hat is off to those in BUD/s right now, as well as the officer to save the woman!

I live in Corvallis Oregon and make the trip to the coast often. I go surfing sometimes without a wetsuit (call me crazy) its really not too bad. In the winter the water temp gets warmer than in the summer with the currents. You may have seen me out there btw! (My friends all use wetsuits and think Im nuts but I tell them about my goal to go to BUD/S and that "Im preparing."

My hat goes off to that officer though, jumping off a bridge into cold water isnt something to blink that. Its awesome to have that kind of officer in service!

[imddrummer]

Man guys, I live in Virginia Beach and the water is 76 degrees right now! I'm not sure if yall could deal with this ice water. ;)

[sickle]

65 isn't "bad" when compared to other places but 65 is still pretty darn cold. The amazing thing is that he jumped 35 feet to save someone he didn't care about. But I wouldn't be surprised if 65 "stole his breath away". You have to think that he was probably hot in his uniform so going from ~90s to 65...

[JohnnyRktFngrs]

A friend of mine and myself once attempted to "swim" in his lake at a temperature of about 43 degrees F. The ice had just recently melted, so there were large chunks of ice floating around us. It felt like knives were vigorously being thrust into my legs. It took about 20-25 min. for the feeling to return. I tried slapping my thighs as hard as I could, but I seriously couldn't feel anything.

[ripmattaxelson5]

A friend of mine and myself once attempted to "swim" in his lake at a temperature of about 43 degrees F. The ice had just recently melted, so there were large chunks of ice floating around us. It felt like knives were vigorously being thrust into my legs. It took about 20-25 min. for the feeling to return. I tried slapping my thighs as hard as I could, but I seriously couldn't feel anything.

Why would you try swimming in such cold water? That could have killed you lol.

[oldswabbie]

The water isnt that cold there this time of year no.. BUT.. the currents under the Howard Franklin bridge can be brutal depending on the tides. The barnacles WILL rip you to pieces if you get too close to the pilings. We use to go shrimping all over Tampa bay and sometimes its hard to keep a boat in one spot when she starts going out/in.

That goes for any bay or inlet down there (im a native Floridian)

OldSwabbie