You’re not kidding. This could turn into a real donnybrook.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot to add, at least from the scientific side. Your points are so strong, with the differences in conditions, athlete capability and preparation, etc., that finding absolute collars that aren’t subject to caveats and adjustments all over the place will be very difficult. It is made worse by financially-driven race directors who will have some real problems if they start cancelling events (which is what I heard happened in China when so many swimmers pulled out).

I am particularly sensitive to the salt water/fresh water issue, probably because most of my training is in fresh and most of the really long swims are in salt. In fact, I think you and I have even written about this before; salt water just feels warmer, and I would suggest that at the low end of the scale (58 – 62 F) the difference in feel is the equivalent of up to four or five degrees. I have some other highly unscientific descriptors to describe the water (“sharpness” is one) that wouldn’t do anyone any good in this challenge.

Anecdotally, I had an issue with a race that happened to be right around the time that Fran Crippen died. We were at that great Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Indiana, in the summer of 2010. Late June, I think. It was the USMS 10K, so there were some real heavyweights there. Dick Sidner, who is the superstar race director against whom all other race directors should be measured, was concerned about the water temps, which were 85 or 86 at the a.m. start. He had no guidelines, but as an OW swimmer, he knew that it would be an issue. In his pre-race remarks, he pointed it out, and suggested that (1) people would not be obligated to wear their issued swim caps past the first turn (past the start confusion, and where there was a safety boat to check off everyone who went by), and (2) everyone stop at the water barge that he had provisioned at each end of the two loop course (that would make three potential stops in a 10K swim). He even wanted the swimmers to talk to the people who were on the barges to make sure they were still making sense.

As the swim went on, an atypically high number of people were DNFs, and I was told by Marcia Cleveland that it was because they were pulled by the safety boats (in some cases over the objections of the swimmers). Of those who finished, all by 11:00 a.m. or so, everyone showed symptoms of being somewhere between really woozy and just wrecked from the heat. I don’t recall that anyone had to leave in an ambulance, but I know of two swimmers who ended up getting intravenous fluids later that evening because they still just didn’t feel right. I was more in the woozy category, but was just happy to finish the race (I had had spinal surgery in February of that year, so I was just glad that I was healed enough to be able to compete). There has been speculation that the water temp actually went as high as 88 or 89 by the end of that morning, and hindsight tells us that the race probably should have been called. I know that Dick would have followed whatever guideline he had, if he had one; in fact, I would suggest that Dick would be more conservative than any arbitrary number – one just didn’t exist.

Another horror story was from that same summer. Here in northern Illinois, a small inland lake called Crystal Lake holds a one-and two-mile swim every summer. It is pretty informal, it is a lot of fun, and it is chock-a-block with area triathletes. That same year, Crystal Lake was 85, and they allowed all the triathletes to wear wetsuits. You know how this story ends, with a guy basically getting cooked in a wetsuit. Apparently, a lifeguard saw him swimming erratically, asked if he was ok and was waved off by the swimmer. She stayed with him, and a few strokes later, he just stopped. She had him out of the water and on the beach in a couple of minutes, the rescue squad had him to a hospital in a few minutes after that, and he died at the hospital. Grapevine says that his internal core temperature was still 103 as long as 30 minutes after he was pronounced dead. They blame it on a heart attack, but that’s because “cooked like a lobster” probably wasn’t a box to check on the coroner’s form.

Again, no guidelines, and it ended tragically. Having said that, I think that someone might have had the fortitude to disallow wetsuits, but those triathletes can get a little uppity when you take them out of their rhythm. It surely would have been confrontational and harmful to future participation (i.e., financial incentive).

One last editorial – I understand why the triathlon community needs to have these guidelines, just so they can keep people safe from their own bad judgment. At the same time, essentially all of the bad things that happen in triathlons happen during the swim portion, and I would suggest that none of them have to do with water that is too hot or cold. It has to do with those ridiculous roller-derby starts they have, where people who are (1) least comfortable with swimming, (2) hopped up out of their minds on adrenaline, (3) focused on a single race after months of training, and (4) wigged out by the whole bumping, punching, swimover part of the gang start, suddenly take leave of any manners they were taught and turn into complete lunatics. I understand the Ironman-tri-macho part of having to swim out of the scrum, but for safety’s sake, couldn’t they employ some technology and make it a little safer? I would put myself in the “pretty experienced” category of OW swimming, and have been in a couple of those starts that were terrifying. A guy from our town died in the Chicago triathlon several years ago, and I think of it every time I see his widow. Tragic. Unnecessary. Unspeakable.

So I am not adding much to your scientific and political endeavor, but I think your analysis is right in the strikezone. You and your logic have my undying support.

All the best to everyone.

Thanks

DPMc

Douglas McConnell
Managing Director
Halyard Capital Advisors, LLC
110 East Main Street
Barrington, Illinois 60010
847-277-8899 Office
847-277-9024 Fax
DMcConnell@HalyardAdvisors.com

From: headcoach@openwatersource.com [mailto:headcoach@openwatersource.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 10:26 AM
To: Doug McConnell
Subject: [FWD: RE: Swim Temperature Collars – CONFIDENTIAL]

sometimes, I can get pretty riled up when it comes to safety issues in the open water…see email thread below. Do you know any researchers who can help formulate or conduct research on extreme conditions on triathletes or open water swimmers?

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: Swim Temperature Collars – CONFIDENTIAL
From:
Date: Wed, April 10, 2013 8:21 am
To: “Bob Wendling, USAT”
Cc: “Bruckner Chase” , “Gerry -”

Bob,

I am VERY happy to DIRECTLY address this issue with any individual, any researcher, any administrator, or coach. I strongly believe we need more discussion, debate and decisions…even if those decisions are interim in nature, subject to future change as you wisely suggest.

Unfortunately, most people are dealing with this issue somewhere between indifference and ignorance. Those are harsh words, but let me say that I have seen more open water swims, made more saves, and seen more death in the open water than anyone on Earth. I am one of the VERY few individuals who have made a full-time profession out of the sport of open water swimming – and this entire issue frustrates me to no end. I travel to dozens of countries on 5 continents every year to observe, report, participate in, and volunteer for with dozens of professional, invitation, and mass participation events in cold/warm/fresh/salt with all kinds of marine life, from alligators to hippos, sharks to jellyfish. I even dare to say that I know more about the report to which the USA Swimming president refers to than anyone on the USA Swimming or FINA boards of directors.

The research that is being touted by FINA and USA Swimming was conducted in an indoor pool with elite swimmers from the New Zealand national open water teams for an hour. The criteria used to make recommendations is only indirectly relevant to the millions of people who do triathlons and open water swims in dynamic conditions in open bodies of water who are not as physically fit as teenage and young adult elite swimmers with low body fat who regularly train their bodies much more rigorously for at least 5 times as long and far as the test required them to do so. That is, the researchers judged swimming at 31°C (87.8°F) to be safe based on the differences in core body temperature when the young swimmers were able to maintain a pace at a pre-determined pace (that was less than what they typically do in a race). If I were an attorney representing a client and the defense would be based on this research, I would have an absolute field day. I am not sure there is anyone at the USA Swimming or FINA or ITU boards of directors who understand these fundamental points.

To give you a little more background, FINA decided to conduct a study based on outside pressure because nothing was changed within the first 6 months of the death of Fran Crippen in October 2010. Less than one year after Crippen’s death, FINA conducted its world championship in Shanghai under water and air conditions that were MORE extreme (i.e., warmer) than the conditions that existed when Crippen died in Dubai. Not only did 3 world champions protest by not defending their titles in Shanghai, but nearly half the field either quit during the race, had to receive medical attention, or were hospitalized. Not one FINA or USA Swimming board member or administrator was at these world championships. However, the pressure to do something escalated within FINA because it was worried that the Crippen family would sue, so FINA decided to conduct a study on the effects of warm water on open water swimmers. FINA apparently teamed up with ITU, and that study conducted in New Zealand is what is being touted by ITU, FINA and USA Swimming as the definitive study.

Now coming up on the third year of Crippen’s death, I must point out that the exact details of the study have not been released publicly – or even within the FINA Family. The research remains confidential and will not be released publicly. Any military or professional researcher in America would tell you that this research is not worthy of publication in a peer-review magazine. And the only reason why I received information on this research is because I know the swimmers who were tested, their coaches, and other people involved in the research who know that I am fighting to make this sport safe for everyone. I was able to briefly read the research, its results and its recommendations to the FINA Board of Directors. Then the information was returned. So it would be my guess that the USA Swimming executives have not yet received the full report on the research … which has been planned and conducted secretly in New Zealand for the past 2 years.

Decision-makers in the swimming world label me everything from crazy to misplaced, but those people are the administrators. Conversely, the athletes and coaches involved in the sport know that I am right and support my position 100%. For it is not MY position, it is the position of all the athletes.

I took the liberty to copy also Bruckner Chase and Gerry Rodrigues on this email. I hope you do not mind. They both have the best intentions for the sport of triathlon and open water in mind, and are huge advocates for the athletes. I share a similar mindset with these gentlemen. If you have any other questions or requests, Bruckner, Gerry and I can not only offer different perspectives, but we can also maintain confidentiality when requested, and can speak independently because we are free of political pressures.

Gerry and Bruckner,

Please maintain the strict confidentiality of this email thread and respect the intentions of Bob and his like-minded colleagues at USAT. Thank you very much.

Steve

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: Swim Temperature Collars
From: “Bob Wendling, USAT”
Date: Wed, April 10, 2013 6:07 am
To:

Steve-

You are simply amazing. I cannot thank you enough for the tremendous background information and summary you have provided on the subject. The Board is taking this subject very seriously and with the reference material we are collecting, I hope that they come prepared to make some decisions on swim temperature collars. I do not like throwing darts when making decisions, but without definitive research results, we may have to, knowing that we can make changes later if more evidence presents itself. We are still trying to collect background information from our International Federation, ITU. In particular, I found a strange reference last week that we still have not been able to verify. We have not seen any report from FINA/IOC/ITU mentioned below by the USS President.

I would like to get you involved, but in the meantime I will stay in touch and keep you informed.

-Bob
President’s Address to House of Delegates
9/20/2012
On another international subject, I am pleased to report we are making progress with respect to the safety of our athletes at international open water competitions. There is still much to do, but at its recent Bureau meeting, FINA adopted 99% of the open water safety rules and policies we recommended to them. We are also close to receiving the results of a study conducted jointly by FINA, the IOC, and the International Triathlon Union on the effects of water temperatures on open water athletes. We are reasonably confident this report will provide a basis for setting maximum and minimum water temperatures for open water competition.

From: headcoach@openwatersource.com [mailto:headcoach@openwatersource.com]
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2013 12:20 AM
To: Bob Wendling, USAT
Subject: RE: Swim Temperature Collars

Bob,

In short, the research in the “safe” swim temperature collars is not consistent. The established collars range from the strict temperature ranges established by the world’s military (including the U.S. Navy and their British colleagues) to the recently published research by FINA, the governing body of aquatics.

Here is some information on FINA:

1. FINA has recommendations on minimum and maximum temperatures (16ºC or 60.8ºF on the low end and 31ºC or 87.8ºF on the high end). This research was based on its own research conducted in New Zealand in a pool and was conducted due to the death of Fran Crippen.

2. In my opinion, which is shared by 100% of the world’s 256 professional marathon swimmers, these minimum and maximum collars have serious flaws:

(a). There is no consistency on a water thermometer. In cases where the coaches have their own water thermometers that read lower than 16ºC or higher than 31ºC, the FINA officials have thermometers than fall within the acceptable range. That is, the uniformity of the water thermometer device itself (e.g., model, type, calibration methodology) must be accepted by administrators, race directors, coaches, and athletes.

(b). There is no consistency in the application of the water thermometer. In cases where the coaches have their own water thermometers that read lower than 16ºC or higher than 31ºC, the FINA officials have thermometers than fall within the acceptable range. That is, the coaches stick the water thermometer in the water for minutes on end, and within only centimeters of the water’s surface (at least within the top 20 cm of the water surface where the swimmers are swimming). It is unclear where (i.e., what depth) and for how long the FINA officials stick their water thermometers in the water. That is, I strongly believe the uniformity of use of water thermometer devices must be accepted by administrators, race directors, coaches, and athletes.

(c) They are simply too low and too high. The basic problem is that no (i.e., zero, none) of the researchers or administrators determining these rules and collars are or were former marathon swimmers. Therefore, they have no personal experience or first-hand knowledge of the physiological changes that occur in the human body in these temperatures.

The fundamental problem – both in practical terms and especially for research – is that the human body reacts so differently in extreme temperatures for various reasons. Women vs. men, young vs. old, trained vs. untrained, acclimated vs. non-acclimated, salt vs. fresh water.

Conversely, researchers and administrators want cut-and-dry numbers and facts. The variances in human physiological responses run counter to their need for specific numbers and rules. But like the human body facing the common cold or cancer, human bodies react vastly different in the horizontal position in extreme water and air temperatures. For example, an experienced physician will tells us that a bed-ridden patient reacts differently to another patient who is more mobile. Most people do not realize that heat stroke is a fundamentally more dangerous situation while the body is in a horizontal position than it is while in the vertical position – and this is especially true in the water vs. on land. Unfortunately, these variances in conditions and human responses have not been addressed in research…and therefore these variances are not memorialized in writing in rules approved by administrators.

This is the issue that the U.S. and British military face. The military does a pretty good job at addressing the variances in its personnel. That is, the military is focused on keeping their personnel ALIVE. This is counter to FINA which is concerned about keeping the athletes NOT DEAD. The difference between keeping athletes ALIVE is not the same as keeping athletes NOT DEAD, in my opinion.

In practical terms, keeping athletes ALIVE means that the rules are not taking the athletes right to the edge. That is, there is fudge room to account to the basic differences in myriad human bodies, their tolerances, and degrees of acclimatization. An objective observer (or administrator) only has to look at the large number of athletes who are hospitalized and who do not finish the race under extreme conditions to see that FINA’s rules are geared towards keeping athletes NOT DEAD. Conversely, in my opinion, when the rules are geared towards keeping athletes ALIVE, there should be NO athletes hospitalized and only a VERY small number who voluntarily retire because they are not acclimated to the conditions.

That is, NOT DEAD = a sport conducted under extreme rules and conditions whereas ALIVE = a sport conducted under challenging rules and conditions. Extreme is dangerous where risks are inherent; challenging is difficult where risks exist but are not predominant.

In my opinion and observations, FINA conducts its open water events under EXTREME rules and conditions, whereas the American and British military conduct training under CHALLENGING rules and conditions. Of course, there are always the special divisions such as the Navy SEALs and the British SAS, but these military units conduct training and exercises under strict supervision which is always not possible in mass triathlons or open water swims.

The issue is does FINA or USAT want to conduct EXTREME competitions or CHALLENGING competitions?

I hesitate to ramble on, but below are a number of articles that I have written on these issues. Of course, the issues are geared towards FINA competitions, but you may find some of this information helpful.

But, sadly, to directly answer your question, there are no specific scientific studies other than the FINA research that addresses issues of swimming in extremely cold or extremely warm temperatures and conditions. I guarantee you that if USAT rules are conducted under the FINA rules, there will be deaths. 100% guaranteed. This is what I predicted in 2009 to FINA, and unfortunately, it came true.

However, there are not any old studies or new studies, although than a study on hypothermia done by Dr. Sara Hingley in London. But her work was geared towards English Channel swimmers who spend an average of 13 hours 32 minutes in the English Channel that ranges between 62-65ºF. The military has some studies on both ends of the extreme scale, but they address different issues and conduct research in different ways that are not necessarily geared towards endurance athletes.

I offered my assistance to create an optimal study to USA Swimming and FINA to address this major hole in aquatic research, but there was no interest in conducting a study that takes into consideration the myriad factors that open water swimming places on the human body.
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2013/03/proper-measurement-of-water.html
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2012/12/open-water-race-directors-do-right-thing.html
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2012/10/fina-reaches-height-of-ignorance.html
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2012/10/fina-reaches-height-of-ignorance-part-2.html
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2012/10/fina-reaches-height-of-ignorance-part-3.html
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2012/10/why-31c-fina-part-4.html
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2012/11/be-safe-not-sorry.html
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2013/03/dealing-with-tragedy-in-triathlons-vs.html
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2012/12/how-cold-can-it-go-fina-races-in-cold.html
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2012/10/swimming-new-south-wales-water.html
If there is anything that is going to be done in this field, it will have to be done by USA Triathlon. A start can be asking for the assistance from the U.S. military, especially with the Navy SEALs in Coronado. USA Swimming, FINA and U.S. Masters Swimming have other issues and priorities on their plate.

I am sorry for not being able to provide you with any more specific information.

Steve

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Swim Temperature Collars
From: “Bob Wendling, USAT”
Date: Sun, April 07, 2013 1:45 pm
To:

Steve-

I hope things have been going well. We have not had an occasion to run into
each other, but I know USAT staff still follow you. First, let me mention
that we are managing the ITU San Diego World Triathlon Series races the
weekend of April 19-20 there in Mission Bay. If you are down there in the
area, I’d love to talk.

We are looking into the necessity for “swim temperature collars” for the
sport of triathlon here in the US. I don’t like regulations, but I think
our sport has grown so big that events are now being conducted by race
management companies in fringe temperature conditions and it may be causing
problems and compromising athlete safety. I need some help. Do you have a
handle on the latest scientific studies conducted on endurance swimmers in
very cold and very warm temperatures? The latter studies might have been
related to the Crippen issue. Our Board of Directors wants to come up to
speed on the subject and I am not afraid of reading medical science studies
on the impact of water temperatures on athletes. Can you tell me where I
might find the latest and greatest research? I appreciate any help you can
provide.

Thanks for entertaining this request-

Bob Wendling
President
USA Triathlon Board of Directors

Copyright © 2012 by World Open Water Swimming Association