Donal Buckley reported on how the introduction of PED (performance enhancing drugs) by the World Anti-Doping Agency will affect all open water swimmers (read here). Among the various issues Buckley raises, one sticks out in our opinion. He writes, "...Though not yet ratified, it’s likely that caffeine will have its threshold set as concentrations in the
There is a self-reporting ranking system for marathon swimmers of all ages, abilities, backgrounds and nationalities called the World Swimming Majors. This database enables individuals to post and see rankings by age, by nationality, by gender, by year and by location (e.g., English Channel, Catalina Channel, Cook Strait, Strait of Gibraltar). The ranking
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
Cliff Lumsdon (Canada), Kevin Murphy (Great Britain), Des Renford (Australia) and their female counterparts Cindy Nicholas, Alison Streeter and Shelley Taylor-Smith call to mind how incredibly resilient and passionate open water swimmers can be. The training that goes behind channel swims, lake swims and marathon swims is largely unseen．They are largely
The long, cold nights of winter bring to mind the long, cold solo swims of International Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer Kevin Murphy. Over the course of his career, he has experienced more than his fair share of long, cold little dips as he calls his marathon efforts. "...in [my] Loch Ness [crossing], I went unconscious for six hours because I went
With the excitement of the Olympic marathon swim in the history books, amateurs of all ages, abilities and backgrounds have their own opportunities to participate in marathon swims around the world. There are at least 106 formally organized marathon swims around the world with several dozens more in planning stages. By 2014, there is forecasted to be at
Open Water Source had the opportunity to watch many lengthy swims over the past year:the 55-hour Swim 22 relay in the Catalina Channelthe 55-hour Mexican American Unity Swim in Lake Powell, Arizona, and...the 40-hour 41-second 68-mile swim in the Cayman Islands by Penny Palfrey. These lengthy swims put a lot of pressure on the escort pilots and support
Stroke after stroke, kilometer after kilometer, hour after hour, marathon swimmers have the unique physiological and psychological ability to go for a long time, day or night, warm or cold, rough or calm, marine life or not. But in the case of ultra-marathon swimmers, they also have the remarkable ability to swim DAY after DAY. Like the example of
Stroke after stroke, kilometer after kilometer, hour after hour, marathon swimmers have the unique physiological and psychological ability to go for a long time, day or night, warm or cold, rough or calm, marine life or not.But in the case of ultra-marathon swimmers, they also have the remarkable ability to swim DAY after DAY. Like the example of Antonio
