The open water discussion has been a little boring lately so time to add some controversy. The above quote was affixed to a plaque my swimmers gave me when I retired as Head Coach of the University of Denver Masters Swim Team. Yes, they knew where I stood on the subject. Others share my view. In my day job as a stock broker I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal “Wimp or Triathlete, You Probably Like That New Wetsuit" by Kevin Helliker, published on September 24, 1999. In it were several memorable quotes on the subject. "How pathetic, says Betsy Brennan a Lake Michigan swimmer" "When I see people in wetsuits, I think: wimp." Another Chicagoan Ted Erikson, who did a double crossing of the English Channel without a wetsuit, said on the increasingly use of wetsuit by swimmers in Lake Michigan. "I ask them, 'Why don't you just get a boat? Boats have heaters.”:D
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It was not unknown for swimming races in the 1800's to be done in the raw. Matthew Webb, first person across the Channel, did some races in the buff, although not the Channel swim which was done in red flannel trunks that weighted about 20 pounds (!!!)when wet.
Having been on some of the nude beaches in Europe, let's just say that it IS possible to have too much (far too much, sometimes) of a good thing.
I won't even mention the possibility of near-sighted predators
It was not unknown for swimming races in the 1800's to be done in the raw. Matthew Webb, first person across the Channel, did some races in the buff, although not the Channel swim which was done in red flannel trunks that weighted about 20 pounds (!!!)when wet.
Having been on some of the nude beaches in Europe, let's just say that it IS possible to have too much (far too much, sometimes) of a good thing.
I won't even mention the possibility of near-sighted predators
