Hello to all,
I'm doing a two mile open water swim in the Hudson River (NYC) the day after tomorrow, June 25th. It's salt water so i'm wondering if swimmers use grease or something similar on the body for rash protection?
The clock is ticking so if anybody has any suggestions sooner then later it would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Clark
Former Member
For 2 miles in the early season I might hit any chafe zones with a little body glide. For longer distances its body glide on the arm and chest areas that chafe, over 7 miles I'll use some bag balm. Body glide is sold at sporting shops it comes in a container that looks like deodorant sticks.
Ocean swimming out here in CA I use good old vaseline under my arms and on my right shoulder on my breathing side. I wear jammers to avoid chafing on my fat thighs, but use vaseline on inner thighs if i don't have jammers. Anything that rubs can start to get mighty raw in salt water, you won't regret overuse of lubricants . . . only a lack thereof.
carl
A guy at the Y where I swim was just kicked out becasue he was stealing everyone's lotions, shampoos and hair stuff. He had a fetish for the stuff. Really a weird guy!!!!!!!
Just make sure you use disposable gloves when applying the grease, or at the very least wash your hands VERY well before touching your goggles - during the last swim I did there was a guy yelling "I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!!" next to me the whole time! turned out he'd gotten his goggles all gooped up...
;)
Thanks to all for your thoughts.
I'm going to head out today and buy body glide.
Only a few hours to go before I take the plunge!
(The hardest part may be getting up at 4:30 AM..)
