New Forum everyone - Open Water Swimming!

[Chris]

Due to popular request, I have established a new forum for the discussion of all things icey cold ..... an Open Water Swimming forum.

http://www.swimclub.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=49

You don't have to be mad to swim outdoors ... but it helps!

This is for the discussion of all outdoor swimming topics, whether it be recreational or competitive. If you like nothing more than a leisurely swim across the local bay, or if you're a hardcore competitive 5km lake swimmer, we want to hear from you.

Chris

[GettingFaster]

You don't have to be mad to swim outdoors ... but it helps!
Sorry, if you're talking about doing it in the UK in winter, I HAVE to disagree with that statement - you DO have to be STARK RAVING LOONEY to swim outdoors.

But good forum, I look forward to reading all the nutty things these open water loons do, makes me look positively sane! :D

[Wildswimmer]

Sorry, if you're talking about doing it in the UK in winter, I HAVE to disagree with that statement - you DO have to be STARK RAVING LOONEY to swim outdoors.

But good forum, I look forward to reading all the nutty things these open water loons do, makes me look positively sane! :D

I do it in the UK in winter - did so last Saturday, but in order to remain comfortable and enjoy my session in water at 5.6C I wore warm clothing. It's just made of neoprene (not fleece) and uses trapped water rather than air for insulation. Seriously, we aren't nutty - it's down to training.

One of the regular posters on the RALSA noticeboard, Nigel, has gone through cold-hardening this past Autumn/Winter by swimming in the sea off Gower. Previously as lean as a beanpole, he's put on an extra 1.5 stone, some of it muscle but a lot of it is his new layer of subcutaneous fat. Rather shoots down the claim made elsewhere that "swimmers' fat keeps one warm" is a myth.

Bear in mind that Lewis Pugh has a seriously weird metabolism!!

Wildswimmer Pete

[whiteminiman]

Subcutaneous fat does keep you warm - it conducts heat less efficiently than muscle. So, yes fat people can stay warmer for longer.

However, the nerve endings are above this layer of fat - so to say "fat people don't feel the cold" is incorrect. The water feels just as cold, it's just that they retain their body heat for longer.

Cheers,
WMM

[poolside parent]

My dd's done it once, and I have every admiration for her! When she ran it by her coach, he did (at first) say: why would you want to do that? To be fair, he was v. supportive, though.

It was a Holme Pierrepoint and freezing cold. When they did the chat about Weils disease, attacking swans and the dodgy, hazardous weeds, I was hoping she was going to opt out, but bless her, she was determined to do it, and got out smiling at the end.

She - and we - hadn't realised how much of a contact sport it was, certainly at the start, so that all came as a bit of a shock!