Core Temperature in Triathletes during Swimming with Wetsuit in 10 °C Cold Water

What is it about?

When swimming in 10°C water with a wetsuit, the core temperature on most triathletes will stay within normal limits for the first 10-15 minutes. After that, the core temperature will decrease with a steady slope.

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Photo by louis tricot on Unsplash

Photo by louis tricot on Unsplash

Why is it important?

When swimming in 10°C water with a wetsuit, the core temperature on most triathletes will stay within normal limits for the first 10-15 minutes. After that, the core temperature will decrease with a steady slope. The longer you stay in the cold water, the colder you will be. To avoid hypothermia, we found a maximum time of 30 minutes in water with a temperature of 10°C. Given a water temperature of 10°C water, our studies show that nearly 50% of the athletes would potentially get hypothermic IF swimming full Ironman distance at the maximal cut off time. Another important finding for us, is that nearly 75% of the triathletes experienced afterdrop. This is a continuous cooling of the body, even after the body is out of the cold water.