Hydration is considered a vital part of athletic performance and physical health by coaches and trainers nowadays.

But it was not always so.

Back in the 1950’s, Australian swimmers were told to avoid hydration at all costs prior to a race. “I remember diving into the Olympic finals and tasting the water with my mouth,” said the late Australian Olympic swimming hero Murray Rose. “I was so thirsty before my swim that I felt like drinking the pool water.”

“We used to stop every hour to drink,” recalls Dr. Penny Dean, the former English Channel record holder and still current Catalina Channel record holder. “I even remember one swimmer who took only 2 feeding stops across the Catalina Channel.”

How times have changed with most open water swimmers and triathletes now taking hydration frequently before, during, and after workouts…and more frequently than every 60 minutes in channel swims.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Swimming