[Paddlewise] Head exposure to cold water

http://www.wcsh6.com/printfullstory.aspx?storyid=56363
http://jksgirls.blogspot.com/2007/03/man-dies-on-st-george-
river.html

Many years ago, one of our paddlers, upon nearing the take out 
after a day of cold water paddling, said "I think I'll try my roll". Over 
he goes; nothing happens for a while. Then he pops out and stands 
up by the boat quite stunned by the cold, with no idea what 
happened. (no head protection for the rolling)

A friend of mine a couple weeks back told me about an adventure a 
few years ago on cold water. He rolled once and he felt a little ice 
cream headach, did it again and felt a little dizzy. His friends said 
do it again so they could take a picture (He was and remains 
skilled at rolling). This time he didn't come up. They got him out 
and took him home. He came to many hours later before the fire in 
their fireplace. He remembered nothing about the third attempt.

Today I learned about the case cited in the above two webaccounts.
I learned from an independent source that, not stated in the two 
accounts, the victim capsized and rolled up one or two times but 
remained a bit woozy. A little further down the river, he capsized 
again and I believe came out of his boat. His partners threw one or 
more rescue lines to him but he took no note of them.

The victim was wearing a hardhat, but I believe no hood! 

Hard to say if the victim gasped. He certainly could have. I believe 
the most likely cause was direct cooling of his head by the cold 
water causing him to loose balance and consciousness. Could 
have been cold water up the nose. Cold water in the ears causes 
virtigo. His partners were unaware of the liklihood of any such 
effects. Wetsuit or not, the victim was not dressed to put his head 
under that very cold Maine river water. A paddler's hard hat won't do 
the job. The coroner's conclusion that he drowned does not 
indicate what happened out on that river.

Thus my question, what was the water temp in Sweden?

Chuck Sutherland 
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