We have open water swimmers and ice swimmers – and other extreme athletes in various disciplines – achieve so much in the 21st century.
From the 54 hour 10 minute four-way English Channel crossing and the 21 hour 46 minute two-way North Channel crossing performed by Sarah Thomas to the 6 km ice swim in 4.84°C water performed by Krzysztof Gajewski in 1 hour 46 minutes and the 4.7 km ice swim in 3.87°C water performed by Krzysztof Kubiak in 1 hour 23 minutes, the physical feats achieved over the past few years alone have been mind-boggling.
Their swims have caused athletes, media, scientists, and physicians to reconsider their assumptions and beliefs about what is physically and mentally possible.
Whether it has been a 73-year-old heart surgeon like Dr. Otto Thaning (in 12 hours 52 minutes) or double leg amputee Pedro Rangel Haro (in 15 hours 48 minutes) crossing the English Channel, swimmers have long served as examples of Aquatic Bannisters.
Aquatic Bannisters, named after the first sub-4 mile runner in history Sir Roger Bannister, are people who achieve open water swimming feats previously thought to be impossible and widely believed by swimmers, coaches, pilots and fans of the open water swimming world.
Many times, the currently inexplicable (e.g., “no one can do a four-way English Channel crossing“) is simply a limitation of current mindset, coaching, and modern-day science.
But as swimmers from Stephen Redmond, Ram Barkai, Lewis Pugh, OIG, and Ger Kennedy to Lynne Cox, Jaimie Monahan, Kate Steels, and Sally Minty-Gravett, MBE have epitomized the Chinese proverb, “The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”
Cold Water Swimming
It is said and is understood by science and medicine that our ability to withstand cold water and cold temperatures diminishes as we age.
But I ask, “Is this true? Are there any countermeasures? Are there any exceptions to this rule?“
What really are the physiological reasons why our ability to withstand cold water and cold temperatures diminishes as we age? I wonder…
- Do we have less muscle mass as we age – and therefore, we start to feel colder in the second half of our lives?
- Do we have thinner skin as we age – and therefore, we start feel colder in our 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s?
- Do we have a lower metabolism as we age – and therefore, we feel colder in the same water temperatures that we could easily swim in our youth or middle age?
- Do we lose thermoregulation, the process that allows our bodies to maintain its core internal temperature, as we age – and therefore more easily and quickly get hypothermic?
- Do we lose fat under our skin as we age – and therefore, become more susceptible to the cold?
- Do worsening health conditions ranging diabetes, peripheral artery disease and kidney disease lead to lower blood circulation and lower body temperatures?
- Do we limit our physical training and simply workout less – for a variety of reasons – and therefore, we reach hypothermia sooner?
- Do our bodies have a greater sensory activation of our pain or nerve receptors – and therefore, we feel colder?
- Are these physiological assumptions true for everyone – or are there outliers due to nature (innate DNA) or living in very cold environments?
We will look for these answers and ponder other questions while this may – or may not – be true.
Sarcopenia
The first question above (Do we have less muscle mass as we age?) brings up the fact (or assumption) that we start to feel colder as we age.
So if there were a way to maintain – or gain – muscle and strength as we age, is it possible to offset or minimize this phenomenon of feeling colder as we age?
Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle and strength that can happen when we get older and do less physical activity. Besides older age, inactivity, lack of exercise, and poor nutrition also increase an individual’s risk of sarcopenia. Symptoms of sarcopenia include falling, muscle weakness, slow(er) walking and swimming speed, muscle wasting, and difficulty performing normal daily activities.
But like Sarah Thomas, Lynne Cox, Lewis Pugh, and Dr. Thaning have proven in the open water, a 104-year-old from Kawasaki, Japan has proven that sarcopenia is not a foregone conclusion of aging.
KAATSU is a modality that can enable swimmers to maintain – or gain – muscle and functional strength as they age.
The 104-year-old – born in 1901 – shows below what is possible with KAATSU under the guidance of her physician Dr. Odagiri:
Prior to starting KAATSU, she was bedridden and uncommunicative for two months with severe dementia. She was transferred from her local hospital to Odagiri Hospital where she began treatment with KAATSU. Initially for the first month, she simply did passive KAATSU Cycle sets as she remained in bed. Gradually, she became communicative – to the delight of her daughters in their early 80’s – and was able to get out of bed by herself. Eventually, over the course of two months, she was able to do a variety of exercises and found herself wishing to live to be 200 years old [see video above].
She not only became strong enough to do a variety of exercises with her KAATSU AirBands on (at a 120 SKU level), but her doctors also documented her significant muscle gains in her upper legs (quadriceps and hamstring muscles) via before-and-after comparative computed tomography scans (3 months apart) and saw measures of her blood circulation improve:
For a brief explanation of the mechanisms involved in doing KAATSU among elderly patients, visit here.
Answers and Opinions
Email munatones@kaatsu.com with your answers or comments to the 8 questions above. Email your opinions and observations if (1) we must accept the assumption that our physiological ability to withstand the cold diminishes with age, and (2) there are any modalities, training methods, or a mindset that we can have or do to offset or minimize this susceptibility to the cold?
© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“