This past week, Paul Lundgren trained 20 miles for three consecutive days in preparation for his upcoming 78-mile swim across Mexico’s Sea of Cortez.
In the process of spending hours on end, the fingers of his hands wrinkled up big-time. Why only wrinkle only on the hands and feet…and not all over?
The palms of the hands and soles of the feet have thicker skin and thicker layers of keratin than the rest of the body. This keratin helps keep the skin moist and absorb water easily. The dead keratin cells in the skin start to swell after being in the water for long periods of time. When the cells swell up, but the cell underneath do not, the temporary new surface area of the wrinkles are the result.
Which Lundgren will have after his sea crossing in the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.