Cold-swim

A Cold-swim for the race was one of the biggest concerns I heard when I went down to the swim area where many of the entrants were getting in some last minute swimming.

Over and over again I heard them talk about how cold the water was and I could tell that it was a major concern for many of them.

There had been a lot of rain in that part of Idaho and often stormy weather will cause a thermal inversion in lakes and it appears that was the case this year. The same thing happened in Penticton back in the 1980's in a few of their earlier races and the water was "really" cold.I could sympathize with them and completely understood their concerns because a cold water was one thing I feared most when it came to the Ironman swim. That was what prompted me to look into ways of overcoming the cold when it came to long open water swims.

It was actually the owner of a local vitamin store who educated me on the benefits of pantothenic acid. He told me how in the past it had been used by long distance open water swimmers to ward off the cold.

When I looked into it I discovered that swimmers who had crossed the fridgid water of the English Channel had used pantothenic acid to help build a resistance to the cold.

Pantothenic acid is a vitamin and can be purchased at most vitamin and health food stores.

I used it myself in several colder Penticton Ironman races and have to say it made a noticeable difference and I never had a problem with cold water again. I would take 500 mg a day for one month up to and including the day of the race.

It is inexpensive and I never noticed any side effects of any kind. If it is something you might be interested in trying, I would suggest doing your own search on it and check it out for yourself. It's just a simple matter of googling it and you will find lots of information on it. A Cold-swim is just one thing to think about. Check the home page for more valuable info.