Coldest Water?

Went for a New Years swim at Venice beach. There was the annual Penguin race and I just missed placing in the top three. It was the shortest swim I've competed in all year (yuk) and I clocked in at 3:20. Funny, though, the water seemed much colder to me. I was talking on the beach with a couple of spectators and, although I've recently swum for much longer in the ocean, my words were very slurred. The NOAA data for Santa Monica puts the water temperature at just under 57 degrees (56.7).

That's about as cold as it gets here in this City of Angels.

Funny. But the water did not feel over-cold and I suspect reckon I could have stayed in much longer with negligible additional effect. And I probably normally slur, or at least would have slurred, but it is rare that anyone joins me at the beach this time of the year. Normally, the first time I talk with anyone as I get out of the water is about 20 minutes later, after I shower and put on warm clothes, and hike up a small hill to order a cup of coffee. And then the thing I notice most is the constant chill to my body, usually accompanied to some extent by a shiver, which I did not have yesterday.