Thanks Wahine, I did need that! But you can relax some... there were several other swimmers out there tonight, and my DH on the shore (not that he could have helped from there). I PROMISE to have a kayaker by my side next time. I figured with 7 other swimmers doing the same route, I'd be ok. But I didn't know them, and they would likely have not noticed if I disappeared in mid swim! I'll definitely do it differently next time.

I found this posting about pulmonary edema and swimming, found it quite too familiar to what I experienced tonight. Very scarey that it can get as bad as described here. Maybe this wasn't it, but the symptoms are eerily similar... the wet wet wet coughing that continued until just a bit ago. All through dinner I kept coughing up liquid. I'd not heard of this before.

I will try again with the suit, and take your advice on the warm up, get used to it before immersing the face, etc. I'll let you know how it goes. Yes, I'll take a friend by my side just in case. (My hubby suggested tying a buoy to my back end!)

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE RESPONSE.
Jes