I am doing the English channel next Sept 2011. I am trying to get a good handle on the cold water thing. So this is what I have been doing but if anyone knows of other tricks I would love to know what they did to prepare for the English channel cold water.
At the moment I take a cold shower every day and 2 times a week sit in a bath full of ice. I live close to lake Michigan and right now the temp has been around 56-64 I have been doing no wet suit. I am up to a 2 hour swim in the cold but have to do a 6 hour cold water swim this Oct. At about two hours my feet lose feeling and my hands too. I can feel my core start to really get cold.
I have used may things to keep warm on being Vaseline did work just got my goggles all messed up, Crisco has done ok. But I am think of getting some Lanolin but dont know if it will be better. Has anyone used it and feel like it has worked far better?
The other thing is my Coach and I are going to set up a floating raft ancoared down and us it for a feeding station. I was thinking of putting a jug of hot water in there to pour over my self. Has anyone tryed this? I want to do hot liquides but my coach said the last guy he trained for the channel had hot tea and he cramped up. Wonder in if that was just him or because the water is so cold with the hot it Shocks your body. My coach told me to not worrie this will all come in time but I have 2 months till my 6 hour swim in 60 or less water temp and it is freeking me out. So any one that knows of some tricks please post them!!!! thanks Aurora :coffee::coffee:
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Former Member
i find that grease is a great lubricant... but not useful for insulation. it can be a somewhat effective windbreaker on those blustery days if applied to upper back, shoulders and neck.
hot feeds are critical for me, and i feed often (20 mins).
i think the 6 hour qualifying swim is a conservative minimum, and have included quite a few 6 - 10 hour training swims... colder = better. while it is possible to over train, i don't think it is possible to over-prepare.
go to dover early... at least a couple of weeks before your scheduled swim and do a couple of long ones in the harbor.
10 or 20 extra pounds won't hurt your speed in a marathon swim, and may very likely increase your cold water comfort level.
ben and jerry are your friends.
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Former Member
i find that grease is a great lubricant... but not useful for insulation. it can be a somewhat effective windbreaker on those blustery days if applied to upper back, shoulders and neck.
hot feeds are critical for me, and i feed often (20 mins).
i think the 6 hour qualifying swim is a conservative minimum, and have included quite a few 6 - 10 hour training swims... colder = better. while it is possible to over train, i don't think it is possible to over-prepare.
go to dover early... at least a couple of weeks before your scheduled swim and do a couple of long ones in the harbor.
10 or 20 extra pounds won't hurt your speed in a marathon swim, and may very likely increase your cold water comfort level.
ben and jerry are your friends.
