ACCLIMATISING TO COLD WATER INVOLVES VIRTUALLY NO PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION – IT IS PRIMARILY PSYCHOLOGICAL
JOEL ENOCH
Our sports scientist and nutrition advisor Formerly part of the Lucozade Sport Science Team, offering nutrition and sport science-related support to athletes and teams from grass roots to Olympians, Joel has a MSc in nutrition from Bristol University and is a qualified triathlon coach.
COLIN HILL
Our long-distance swimming expert A passionate pillar of the open water swimming community, Colin Hill is the marathon swimming technical operations manager for London 2012 Olympics. He devised the Great Swim series and swam the Channel in 2009.
JACK ALLISON Our wetsuits expert
Educating the body: just a case of mind over mater?
HOW CAN I ACCLIMATISE PROPERLY? How much effect does body fat have on ability to swim (without a wetsuit) for lengths of time in cold water? Is it just a case of educating the body? What other factors can affect acclimatisation? I am currently building up (very) slowly trying to acclimatise for a two-hour channel relay qualifier with litle existing body fat. Lisa, by email
Our nutrition expert, Joel Enoch, says… I have covered some of this in my article on page 32, but I would like to add some more information here. I haven’t been able to find anything that suggests that a certain amount of body fat has a particular protective effect (i.e. 1kg gives you an extra hour in the water), and this is largely because everyone is different. These variations may be physiological, for example, a particular percentage of body fat seems to have less of a protective effect for women than for men, but also psychological, as some people report suffering from the cold despite no change in their core temperature. This may be an important factor in acclimatisation. Greg Whyte (David Walliams’ trainer), an expert in this field, has said, “Adapting or acclimatising to cold water involves virtually no physiological adaptation. It is primarily a psychological process.” It could therefore be said, as you do, that “educating the body” is exactly what you need to do, rather than to pile on the pounds. That said, adding some body fat seems likely to help you deal with the cold. A higher work rate will also keep the body warm, so train in a way that allows you to swim at a high intensity, as this will also help you to beat the cold.
A passionate swimmer and triathlete, Jack Allison founded Tri-Wetsuits (tri-
wetsuits.co.uk) in 2010 to help people find the best wetsuit for their swimming style, body type and goals. He believes the right advice can make a huge difference.
STEVEN MUNATONES Our high-performance swimming expert Steven Munatones was the 1982 World Long-Distance Swimming Champion. He has coached the USA National Open Water Swimming Team, was the NBC swim commentator for the 2008 Olympics, and founded
openwatersource.com.
PAUL HOBROUGH Our sports injury rehabilitation expert Ex-international kayaker Paul Hobrough is the founder of Physio & Therapy UK (
physioandtherapy.co.uk), which specialises in sports injury treatment and injury prevention for athletes. His clients include people of all abilities, even Olympians!
MIDGIE THOMPSON Our mental performance expert The founder of Bright Futures Coaching (
brightfuturescoaching.com), Midgie works to help individuals develop strategies to be the best they can be, while maintaining a healthy balance in sporting, professional and personal lives.
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