The pang, as I plunged into it, was as quick and sharp as that of fire.

It bit to the marrow.

It was like the grip of death.

I gasped with the anguish and shock of it, filling my lungs before the life-preserver popped me to the surface.

The taste of the salt was strong in my mouth, and I was strangling with the acrid stuff in my throat and lungs.
But it was the cold that was most distressing.