Racing in Bad Weather (Disclaimer-CA bad wx....)

That does seem cold for Calif.

But I find it odd that they typically cancel the swim. Surely the water temp isn't 32 deg.? Because with a wetsuit, nearly any body of water in Calif is toasty. If its really cold weather-wise, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to cancel the bike and make it a swim-run?

Toasty?  Hmmm, on my last trip to Aquatic Park the water temp was 49 degrees.  It didn't feel toasty to me.

During my first (ever) triathlon last year a downpour began during my swim; however, the air temps were a little warmer than 49 degrees.  Since I was already wet and warmed up coming out of the water, I didn't put on anything extra on the bike because I figured riding with a bunch of wet clothes would be a drag.  That's not to say I necessarily stayed warm on the bike though. I remember my hands and feet got cold.    The most challenging aspect of this race was trying to change shoes with everything (esp my hands) being soaking wet & cold.  My transition area, unfortunately, was set-up  in a low spot, so when I exited the swim, my stuff was lying in about 1" of water. Believe it or not, the transition area was dry when I set-up!    I noticed a number of people before the race (obviously with more experience than me & anticipating the rain) brought small Rubbermaid containers so their stuff would at least be dry when they changed into it which would be easier, especially if you prefer to run in socks, like I do.  My socks were so drenched I went without them, which wasn't a good idea.  Anyway, that's my experience with rain.

The swim isn't cancelled due to the temps, it is cancelled due to runoff from the rains.  Here in SoCal where we get very little rain, water quality becomes a big issue when the rain does come.  Rule of thumb is to stay out of the water for 72 hours after any significant amount of rain.

Yeah, Tempe, AZ has had issues of late trying to get some tri's in due to rain messing with Tempe "Lake".  Hopefully this year goes smoother for them