10K Racing In The Olympic Year Kicks Off In Santos

SANTOS, Brazil. Professional marathon swimmers have a choice this coming Sunday: compete 10K off the Atlantic shore in Santos, Brazil in the opening leg of the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup or race 57K in the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix between Santa Fe and Coronda in Argentina.

31 women and 58 men will race in the Santos World Cup including the top Germans (Angela Maurer, Nadine Reichert, Christian Reichert and Andreas Waschburger who were all ranked in the top 3 in the 2011 World Cup circuit. Others include four 10K medalists from the 2011 FINA World Championships: Italian Martina Grimaldi, Marianna Lymperta and Spyridon Gianniotis from Greece, and Russian Sergey Bolshakov.

2005 World 10K champion Chip Peterson and his American teammate Emily Brunemann who won 2 World Cup races last season are also among the competitors.

After these races on January 29th, the pro head off to their respective circuits:

Race 2: February 4th 10K in Viedma, Argentina
Race 3: April 1st 10K in Eilat, Israel
Race 4: April 21st 10K in Cancun, Mexico
Race 5: July 26th 10K 10K in Lac St-Jean, Canada
Race 6: August 11th 10K in Lac Megantic, Canada
Race 7: October 7th 10K in Hong Kong
Race 8: October 14th 10K in Shantou, China
FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix 2012 calendar:

Race 3: February 5th 88K in Hernandarias-Parana, Argentina
Race 4: June 17th 36K in Capri-Napoli, Italy
Race 5: July 28th 32K in Lac St-Jean, Canada
Race 6: August 4th 34K in Lac Magog, Canada
Race 7: August 5th 19K in Sabac, Serbia
Race 8: August 11th 33K in Ohrid Lake, Macedonia

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Salvatore Cimmino Swimming For Others In The Congo

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. The ever-positive, always-energetic disabled swimmer Salvatore Cimmino continues on his A nuoto nei mari del globo (Swimming in the Seas of the Globe) project. Salvatore will swim 40K in the Republic of the Congo from Kiumba on Idwji Island to Goma in April.

Salvatore explains his next swim, "The DRC is one of the poorest countries on Earth which I witnessed when I visited the Prosthesis Centre and the Centre of Mental Health in Goma. The lack of the most basic means of survival tragically affects the population: 80% of households cannot afford to send their children to school. Illiteracy is rampant, absolute poverty prevents access to medicine. The situation is even worse for people with disabilities.

Children born with birth defects are abandoned at night. Buildings are without any provision for the disabled."

It is in the midst of this situation that Salvatore sees value in his swims, actions and advocacy. He will return to Goma in April, bringing many useful gifts for the children living in the area.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Recruiting One More Swimmer For The Bering Strait Relay

"We are looking for one more swimmer to participate with us - swimming for short 20-minute swims 4-5 times over a 24-30 hour period in sub-5 waters near the Arctic Circle," explained British extreme swimmer Jack Bright.

"We are trying to have as many nations represented as possible and adding an American would be very nice in our relay swim across the entire width of the 86K (53-mile) Bering Strait.

Alexander Brylin, President of the AQUICE-sport Federation and Head of the Organization Committee of the First Intercontinental Swimming Relay from Eurasia to America across the Bering Strait Meeting of the Sun is looking for another swimmer to join their colleagues from Russia, China, Great Britain, Poland, Latvia, Czech Republic, Italy, Canada, Sweden, Ireland and South Africa.

"Our major goals are to (1) propagate cold water swimming and winter swimming as an essential aspect of the healthy lifestyle, (2) develop Russian-American cooperation and international friendship, and (3) conduct scientific research in order to examine the influence of the hyperthermia on the human body."

This July, swimmers can join cold-water luminaries like Alexander, who swam 1.7K in an ice hole - 48 minutes 25 seconds at the 2010 Ice Hole Endurance Swimming Championship in Blagoveschensk, Russia, Chinese swimmer Wang Gang Yi who swam in Antarctica for 54 minutes in 2°C water, South Africans Ram Barkai (shown below), Kieron Palframan, Ryan Stramrood and Andrew Chin, Rafal Ziobro, Czechs Zdenek Talmicka and Petr Tomasek, Irish Nuala Moore and Anne Marie Ward, Alexander Brylin (Russia), Italian Paolo Chiarino and Swede Anna-Carin Nordin.

Sounds cool.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Shaving Down In The Open Water Swimming World

DOVER, England. Petar Stoychev, the only person to swim under 7 hours in the English Channel, knows the value of preparing himself in every aspect of the sport. He trains, he eats, he travels and he races like the 11-time professional marathon swimming champion he is.

And he shaves down.

While shaving down is not for everyone or even for most open water swimmers, for Petar it works.

"I shave down - full body - for every big race. It's very good and helpful. You feel much faster in the water. It's easier to put on sunscreen protection, your numbering, Vaseline and so.

Your body hair doesn't keep your warm in the water. I also shaved for my English Channel record. I believe shaving is necessary for competitive open water swimming."

While shaving is not for everyone, one of the greatest professional marathon swimmers in the world tells us how little things work for him.

Photo by Michael Oram shows Petar Stoychev after his world record in the English Channel.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Shelley Taylor-Smith On Becoming A Marathon Swimmer

7-time world marathon swimming championship Shelley Taylor-Smith talks about racing against the world's top professional marathon swimming men and sleeping in her togs here at the 2010 Global Open Water Swimming Conference in Long Beach, California.

Courtesy of The Athlete Village


Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

The Midmar Mile Is A Marathon

The aQuellé Midmar Mile in South Africa is coming up. The world's largest open water swimming race is an extravaganza like no other.

But, it was not always that way. It was a long road to its current success, building the race year after year.

Its race staff and volunteers worked hard and strategically to attract swimmers of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. Below is its year-by-year evolution of the 1.6K event.

From Olympians and medalists to world champions and world record holders, the Midmar Mile attracts celebrities and celebrity swimmers year in and year out.

This year, Olympic Marathon Swimming 10km gold medal favorite Keri-Anne Payne will be back to defend her title and famed stage swimmer Martin Strel will share his experiences with others in the race across the Midmar Reservoir.

1974 - 153 swimmers
1975 - 220 swimmers
1976 - 634 swimmers
1977 - 1,021 swimmers
1978 - 1,426 swimmers
1979 - 1,892 swimmers
1980 - 2,500 swimmers
1981 - 3,000 swimmers
1982 - 3,000 swimmers
1983 - unknown
1984 - 2,555 swimmers
1985 - 2,454 swimmers
1986 - 3,200 swimmers
1987 - 3,500 swimmers
1988 - 3,916 swimmers
1989 - 3,700 swimmers
1990 - 4,000 swimmers
1991 - 4,890 swimmers
1992 - 4,400 swimmers
1993 - 4,724 swimmers
1994 - 5,027 swimmers
1995 - 6,140 swimmers
1996 - 6,925 swimmers
1997 - 7,774 swimmers
1998 - 9,600 swimmers
1999 - 10,045 swimmers
2000 - 10,045 swimmers
2001 - 12,214 swimmers
2002 - 13,218 swimmers
2003 - 16,050 swimmers
2004 - 17,332 swimmers
2005 - 17,087 swimmers
2006 - 16,696 swimmers
2007 - 16,853 swimmers
2008 - 19,013 swimmers
2009 - 17,575 swimmers

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Dr. Peter Attia Battles The War on Insulin

Dr. Peter Attia continues his War on Insulin with his latest article on irisin, the magic exercise hormone.

Peter always pens thought-provoking missives that serve as educated, logical analyses of nutrition, health and sports performance issues.

He backs up his statements and beliefs with hard science, physiological facts and self experimentation.

His goal, which is rapidly earning the attention of power-brokers from the halls of government in Washington D.C. to the board rooms in Hollywood, is to shake up how we eat in order to lead healthy lifestyles.

It is a noble goal and his success, along with many others combating the same issues, is not a given. But watching a Catalina and Maui Channel swimmer fight the battle is at once educational and enjoyable.

In his latest article, several points came to mind:

The problem with obesity and diabetes is slow-burning plagues that is hurting not only the United Sates, but also large portions of the entire world.

While the type of exercise was not the subject of Peter's article, open water swimmers do enjoy arguably the best form of exercise in the world - working every muscle group and stressing their cardiovascular systems in a non-impact sport.

While Peter addressed the amount of exercise in his article, even the word "exercise" seems to have changed in its implications and nuances over the generations.

Exercise was just what people, especially kids, did generations ago. Exercise was not a formula or regimen showcased in magazines, books and TV shows. Exercise was not scheduled into a child's play dates and it was not something that drew kids away from the iPads, GameBoys, laptops and TV.

Riding bikes, playing basketball, and walking to the park were simple activities governed by the joy and creativity of children, not the whistles of adult referees or workout policies of age-group coaches.

But Peter describes how BAT (brown fat) is intriguing but not the core issue when addressing weight-control issues.

But discussions of BAT are interesting to certain niches of the open water community.

BAT can evidently be developed by cold acclimatization, always a good thing for those swimming in the English Channel, Catalina Channel, Cook Strait and dozens of other marathon swims around the world. While firing up the brown fat is, perhaps as Peter says, a term of a lesser order, getting acclimated to extreme temperatures generally makes a channel or marathon swim more pleasant and achievable.

Always a pleasure to read, this article generated the following follow-up question to Peter and other researchers: if we have too much white fat and brown fat is good for channel swimmers, what fat is good for all those open water swimmers who compete in warm waters where hyperthermia - not hypothermia - is the risk?

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Do Seconds Count In Open Water Swimming Competitions?

The goal of most open water swimmers is to finish their race or swim. They are not in a race against the clock or their fellow swimmers. Their competitor is, frankly, the elements and the course itself. They enjoy the challenge and the beauty of swimming from Point A to Point B, followed by relishing the camaraderie of their fellow swimmers. Once home, their interaction continues by sharing photos, videos and stories online of their common adventure.

But a small niche of open water swimmers are highly competitive and race for money, medals, ego, sponsorship and recognition.

In the famous 2004 World Open Water Swimming Championships in Dubai, two world champions came barreling down towards the finish, shoulder-to-shoulder, stroke-for-stroke. For nearly six hours, the women went at each other pushing the pace and not giving an inch. They went beyond what was thought possible. Edith van Dijk of the Netherlands and Britta Kamrau of Germany were fierce competitors. In the final lap of ten, they were in total synchronization towards the end of the 25K race. Down the final backstretch, into the final chute, the women were indistinguishable as they reached up to touch the finish board.

While cheers normally greet the winner, there was a strange silence among the crowd as they both simultaneously hit the finish. Was it Edith or was it Britta? Who won? Did the reigning 10K champion Britta win her second race of the 2004 world championships or was it 15-time world championship medalist Edith?

Ultimately, Britta was given the title in an official 5:43:09.6 over Edith's 5:42:09.7, but it took hours for the officials to pour over the video from the finish cameras. Frame by frame, the officials had to dissect the last moments of the race and make the final decision.

Pool swimmers shave their body hair for major competitions. Every millisecond counts in the pool as it does on the track, in the velodrome and with triathletes who also shave their legs (for other reasons).

But Open Water Source posed a question to dozens of channel swimmers and elite professional athletes: Do open water swimmers shave down? Do they purposefully remove hair from their legs, arms and body for a major open water swimming competition or solo swim (channel swim or marathon swim)?

Next week, Open Water Source will summarize the answers to the following questions:

1. Do you think shaving down is good for competitive open water swimmers? If so, why?
2. Does shaving for a pool competition and shaving for an open water swim feel different? If so, why?
3. Do you think shaving down is necessary for masters open water swimmers?
4. Did you shave for your English Channel swim or for your marathon swim? Why or why not?
5. If you shaved, what part of your body did you shave down: legs, arms, body, everything?
6. Did you shave for any open water swims during your career?
7. In the open water, what do you think are the advantages of shaving?
8. Do you shave when the water is cold?
9. Is shaving necessary for open water swimmers?

If you wish to contribute to the article, please send your answers here.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

If Beachs Were Related And Oceans Were One

With the world covered with water and the world so dominated by oceans (Antarctic or Southern, Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific), do we have one ocean or different oceans?

Prior to 2000, the world's geographers defined only four oceans (Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific), but in 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization announced the fifth and newest ocean in the area surrounding Antarctica in its Limits of Oceans and Seas (S-23).

The Southern Ocean, created from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, is a separate eco-system about double the size of the United States. It ranges in water temperature between -2°C and 10°C (28-50°F) where the world's largest ocean current, the eastward-moving Antarctic Circumpolar Current, exists.

But since the oceans are all connected, does the Earth have five oceans or just one big one?

As open water swimmers travel around the world, dipping their toes in the world's ocean(s), certain similarities start to become apparent.

The structures lining the beaches and the physical backdrop are hints of déjà vu. Here are just a few examples of beaches that seem to have common DNA:

Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Waikiki Beach on Oahu in Honolulu, Hawaii (shown above) and La Concha Beach in San Sebastián, Spain and Atami Sun Beach in Shizuoka, Japan and Acapulco Bay in Mexico.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source

Getting Thirsty While In The Water

Hydration is now considered a vital part of athletic performance and physical health by coaches, athletes and trainers. But it was not always so.

Penny Dean, an inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame, recalls that marathon swimmers used to drink no more frequently than once per hour...and sometimes even significantly less than that. "We had some swimmers who crossed the Catalina Channel with only two feeds."

Murray Rose, the great Australian Olympic champion who won 4 gold medals, 2 silver and 2 bronze at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the 1960 Rome Olympics, recalls that "we used to purposefully not drink anything before a competition.

I remember being so thirsty before a competition. My lips were parched. It took great discipline to become so dehydrated. When we dove in the water, the water on our lips tasted so sweet."

As the science of sports evolved and the physiological needs of humans doing exercise became better understood by coaches and athletes, water bottles became de rigueur during training sessions and much more frequent feeding stops became common during solo swims and open water swimming competitions.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source