I just saw this article "Swimmer’s death leaves open questions":
"Asked if he’d ever try the event, US swimmer Michael Phelps said, “Not a chance, no way. I won’t do open water.’’
I'm a bit surprised. Is he scared of the dangers of open water? Or is he technically competitive in open water? :rolleyes: Have there been any swimmers who won both pool medal and open-water medal in world events?
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The water temp was 14.4C (57.9F) with mid-50s air temp - pretty cold even for those guys. At those temps, wetsuits don't just make them a bit faster; it becomes a completely different race.
It may make it a different race, but not a different sport. I don't think that the crowd could have been any more excited than they were. I'm not a cold water swimmer, but I did about an hour in the SF Bay at 53° this year with a bunch of people (sans wetsuit) that love it cold. I would think that swimming as hard as they were, keeping warm would not be a significant issue. Particularly for Stoychev who was in the Channel for 7 hours at similar temperatures.
The water temp was 14.4C (57.9F) with mid-50s air temp - pretty cold even for those guys. At those temps, wetsuits don't just make them a bit faster; it becomes a completely different race.
It may make it a different race, but not a different sport. I don't think that the crowd could have been any more excited than they were. I'm not a cold water swimmer, but I did about an hour in the SF Bay at 53° this year with a bunch of people (sans wetsuit) that love it cold. I would think that swimming as hard as they were, keeping warm would not be a significant issue. Particularly for Stoychev who was in the Channel for 7 hours at similar temperatures.
