And the water? Not so hot

ATLANTIC CITY - With large holiday crowds predicted to hit the Shore this weekend, you might have expected to see the waters off Atlantic City beaches filled with swimmers - especially on a beautiful 90-degree day like yesterday.

Think again.

"It's freezing," said Isabella Capecci, 6, of Langhorne, who braved the cold water with a boogie board but still managed to keep her shoulders dry.

With the ocean a chilly 59 degrees, according to National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Isabella was one of the more adventuresome swimmers on North Carolina Avenue Beach in Atlantic City.

And with few exceptions, they were children.

"They just don't feel it," said Fred Burwell III, 36, of Absecon, a third-generation lifeguard with the Atlantic City Beach Patrol. "Other than little kids, you won't get too many people" in the ocean.

When the adults do get into the water, Burwell said, it's just to cool off before they head right back to their beach blankets.

"It bothers me more than it bothers him," said Chris Riddick, 22, of South Philadelphia, who was watching his 2-year-old impervious-to-cold nephew, Steven Riddick.

"It's cold," Steven said. "The waves are real big."

Well, actually, the waves were only big if you were 2 years old and about two feet high.

North Carolina Avenue Beach is known as one of the best surfing beaches in the city, but with the mild three- to four-foot waves, surfers were nowhere to be found.

But the less-than-ideal surfing conditions didn't stop Anna Reyes, 35 - who came down from Union City, N.J., for a day trip - from trying out a boogie board for the first time.

Burwell's prediction proved true as Reyes headed for the towels after a short swim.

"I like it," said Reyes, but she also felt the cold was getting to her bones. "I'm going to get warm now and then get back in."

Casey Borish, 15, from Northeast Philadelphia, was firmly entrenched in a beach chair and just warming up to the idea of being at the Shore.

"I'm not a beach person," she said. "I was forced to come."

Borish, who was there with her parents for the weekend when she would have rather stayed home alone, said she was "kinda" upset Friday, but not so much anymore. She was even thinking of trying the water.

Her mother, Pat Borish, 49, said she had stepped in, splashed a little cold water on, then thought better of a long dip in the ocean.

"I'll hyperventilate," she said.

The weather was welcoming, but the chilly water daunting. B8.EndText