Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. A feeding station is a fixed or floating pontoon, pier, boat or other location where coaches can provide hydration or fuel to open water swimmers during an open water swimming or marathon swimming event. It can also be called a hydration station, feeding pontoon or feeding stop. In international races,
Whether coaches are standing offshore in the water or from a feeding pontoon, they all have different types, sizes, lengths, and colors of the feeding sticks (feeding poles). It is a colorful sight to see. While many channel swimmers use a water bottle on a string as a means to feed and hydrate on their marathon swims, there is an alternative that
Courtesy of WOWSA at the USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships, Fort Myers, Florida. Where does one stand to feed open water swimmers at the Olympics or World Championships or any one of hundreds of marathon swimming? It is all a matter of personal preference among open water swimmers and coaches. Some athletes prefer to be fed by their
Photo of Kirsten Cameron by Antonia Steeg. Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. New Zealand masters swimmer Kirsten Cameron, a world record holder in the pool and a world-class open water swimmer, is the only female on the EC6 relay (Total Immersion in the English Channel). Faced with a crew of men and 5 male teammates, Cameron knows how to
Coach Rick Walker tells of the time he was on a feeding station at a FINA World Championship event. A swimmer from Guyana swam by the feeding station without stopping or receiving hydration. The next time the swimmer passed, Walker extended his feeding stick to the swimmer who was surprised, smiled broadly, drank quickly, and waved in appreciation as he
In the first leg of the 2013 FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup this weekend in Santos, Brazil, the heavy favorite was double Olympic medalist Thomas Lurz of Germany. Lurz remains at his peak even in his mid-30s. But it was Romain Beraud of France who came out ahead. And Lurz was not even in the top 3 as Italy's Federico Vanelli and Matteo Furlan joined
While many channel swimmers use a water bottle on a string as a means to feed and hydrate on their marathon swims, there is an alternative that many professional marathon swimmers use. They use a feeding stick (or feeding pole). All of these feeding sticks are hand-made. The instruments can be used by coaches or trainers standing on a floating feeding
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. While many channel swimmers use a water bottle on a string as a means to feed and hydrate on their marathon swims, there is an alternative that many professional marathon swimmers use. They use a feeding stick (or feeding pole). All of these feeding sticks are hand-made. The instruments can be used by
