About 7 years ago I used to surf all year without a wetsuit. I even surfed when the water was 55 degrees. I would last about 30 minutes at the most, and I'd come back blue and barely able to walk.

These days I'm smarter... I won't even kite surf in water that cold with a wetsuit. You can always swim in if you're too cold on a surf board, but when you're swimming in from 300 yards out because of a broken line, hypothermia can set in and you can pass out before you ever make it to shore.

I suspect this is what happened. In 30 degree water you can't expect to last longer than 15 minutes, 30 minutes is sure death. With a wetsuit you will last longer, but not a lot longer. I'm sure this guy was wearing a drysuit but entanglement could have made this a long long swim. Wonder what really happened?