Colder, Further, Tougher, Older To Islas Cíes

Courtesy of Ned Denison, Ría de Vigo to Islas Cíes, Spain.

As open water swimmers get older, some get tougher, go longer, and acclimate better.

“If you assume that it is more difficult to swim further and faster in colder water, then open water swimming is one of the few sports in the world where you can get better as you get older,” observed Steven Munatones.  “Especially on the mental side of the equation, it seems that the older and older swimmers are psychologically more capable to doing more in the open water.

Look at the events of the International Winter Swimming Association and the International Ice Swimming Association as well as channel crossings and marathon competitions around the world. 

In 1979, one of the most famous swimming coaches in the world, Doc Counsilman whose men’s  team won 12 of 13 gold medals in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, became the oldest man to cross the English Channel at the age of 58. His well-documented effort made headlines and brought marathon swimming to the attention of the aquatic world.

While his swim was subject of a 1980 documentary, Doc: The Oldest Man in the Sea, a 58-year-old in the contemporary open water swimming world is not considered old.  There are many 60 and 70 year olds tackling tough swims, from the Ice to channels, around the world nowadays.

Doc may have been an outlier way back in the 1970s, but now he is considered a precursor to open water swimming in the 21st century.”

One race that shows the capabilities and potential of the human species in the open water is the 27 km La Batalla de Rande a Nado held between the Islas Cíes, at the mouth of the Ría de Vigo, and the small island of San Simón island in Galicia in the northwest of Spain.