Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Open water swimmers, especially channel swimmers and marathon swimmers, have an interesting relationship with lanolin.

They use lanolin for prevent chafing or to reduce the initial shock of cold water. They use lanolin with Vaseline or Desitin or Safe Sea or other ointments and creams or anti-chafe spray lubricant like TriSlide.

When putting on lanolin, a variety of thoughts pass through the minds of open water swimmers:

“This stuff smells.”
“Smells like a marathon swim is getting ready to start.”
“I hope this doesn’t get on my goggles.”
“Better not get this lanolin on my clothes.”
“If I heat it up more, it might be easier to put on.”
“I can’t wait to get this stuff off.”
“It will come off in the water anyway, after a few hours.”
“This stuff will never come off.”
“Where are my rubber gloves?“
“Who is going to put this stuff on me?“
“How thick should I put it on?“
“This is going to feel good.”
“I hate how this feels.”
“Who came up with this stuff?“
“I wonder what porpoise oil feels like?“
“Hope the water is warm.”
“How did they make goose fat way back when?“

Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association