If you are a man above puberty you have to think twice about getting in water that is below about 34 to 36 degrees because otherwise you will be in a lot of pain for awhile unless you just jump in and jump out at really low temperatures. Your testicles will scream otherwise. (unless you are wearing a really good wet or dry suit for surfing or scuba diving).
The first time I realized that before puberty you could get away with this was I was swimming in the Walker River and noticed that my Dad couldn't stay in very long and he eventually said that men cannot go in water that cold and stay there (below 35 or 36 degrees) without a lot of pain. But, as a child before puberty I could get in an stay in 32 to 36 degree water and I was fine because I was a child and not a man yet. So, this would be sometime around 1956 then.
So, as a man I sometimes would jump in freezing water but just not stay very long. For example, I remember being at Stewart Springs and there Charlie Thom Set up a Sweat lodge that could fit somewhere between 20 and 50 people and it was snowing outside. So, after we got really hot in the sweat lodge we broke the ice in a nearby river and got in to cool down. But, it didn't take long to cool down that way and I was ready for another round in the sweat lodge with everyone there.
So, getting in freezing cold water has a lot to do with (how warm are you to begin with) and "Can you get warm quickly after the cold plunge.
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