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?
It may make it a different race, but not a different sport.
...
I would think that swimming as hard as they were, keeping warm would not be a significant issue.
I should have clarified: I don't have a (big) problem with wetsuit-legal races, esp. at those temps.
They may not have been in danger of hypothermia w/o wetsuits (they were in the water less than 20 mins). However at sub-15F a not-insignificant portion of their energy is being diverted to keeping warm - energy they can't use for propulsion. Presumably there are individual differences in this factor, and some will be relatively advantaged/disadvantaged.
It may make it a different race, but not a different sport.
...
I would think that swimming as hard as they were, keeping warm would not be a significant issue.
I should have clarified: I don't have a (big) problem with wetsuit-legal races, esp. at those temps.
They may not have been in danger of hypothermia w/o wetsuits (they were in the water less than 20 mins). However at sub-15F a not-insignificant portion of their energy is being diverted to keeping warm - energy they can't use for propulsion. Presumably there are individual differences in this factor, and some will be relatively advantaged/disadvantaged.
