If you have spent any time hanging around open water swimmers you may have heard the term “after-drop”. If you’ve done any swimming in cool water, you may have experienced it. For the uninitiated, after-drop refers to the decline in your core body temperature after you have got out of the water.

When you swim in cool water the body cleverly tries to protect vital organs by reducing blood flow to the skin and limbs. Thus the core stays warm while the skin, arms and legs cool down. The process is known as peripheral vasoconstriction.

De achtergrond:

American Sarah Thomas, 37, tests limits of endurance by swimming the EC 4 times in 54 hours

An American woman has become the first person to swim the Channel four times non-stop, dedicating her achievement to fellow survivors of breast cancer.

Sarah Thomas, 37, began her marathon feat at 12.07am BST on Sunday morning and finished just over 54 hours later at 6.30am on Tuesday.

Editie NL wilde wel eens weten waarom het Kanaal overzwemmen op je bucketlist kan staan. Roy Danckaarts en Wendy Dorrestijn van ZwemAnalyse konden dat precies vertellen. Wendy omdat ze haar oversteek in 2020 ook gebruikt om geld in te zamelen voor een PTSS-hulphond.

Roy wilde nog wel kwijt dat het géén stoer verhaal voor op feestjes is. "De meeste mensen hebben toch zoiets van, waarom zou je zwemmen als er ook een veerboot gaat?"

Even na middernacht, van zondag op maandag, heeft Lisa Dreesens uit Venray haar zwemtocht over het Kanaal volbracht. De 27-jarige Limburgse deed tien uur en twintig minuten over haar heroïsche oversteek van het Engelse Dover naar het Franse Cap Gris Nez, vlakbij Calais.

Slechts 22 Nederlandse zwemmers slaagden er eerder ook in om de overkant te halen in de 144-jarige geschiedenis van het Kanaalzwemmen.

2019-08-07 - Wassenaar - ChannelChallenge heeft inmiddels meer dan 8 open water zwemclinics gegeven. De meeste daarvan waren in samenwerking met ZwemAnalyse. De clinics waren in zowel zoet als zout water en op heel verschillende locaties. Er komen er nog wat meer aan: 

De beide teams die ChannelChallenge zou begeleiden over Het Kanaal hebben lang gewacht op een mogelijk moment voor een oversteek.

2019-07-17 - Folkstone - The team of Interntional SOS employees are ready to go! When travelling towards Dover it was likely to have them swim tonight. The weather has however changed. The swim is postponed to Thursday and finish on Friday.

This leaves the opportunity to have an extra training. They swam at leasurly pace for some time to a bouy that is layin in front of the hotel and returned to shore. The water was very agreable with 17,9C. The current was not. It took some effort to get from the bouy back to the spot on the beach where we left.The swim was verynice indeed!

A Brisbane teenager has become the second-youngest person to swim the English Channel twice in one day, swimming 68 kilometres in 22 hours to make it happen.

Brianna Thompson, 17, lost a layer of her tongue and suffered from severe leg cramps and jellyfish stings in the swim from England to France and back — a feat of endurance only achieved by 20 others.

2019 ISHOF Honor Open Water Swimmer, Marcy MacDonald completed her 17th crossing of the English Channel on Saturday, July 6th, 2019, on the 25th anniversary of her very first crossing. MacDonald wrote this to family, friends and supporters after her swim:

“Greetings from Dover! I am enjoying a day by the sea with a few muscle aches after yesterday. I’m over the multiple jellyfish zaps but I am happy to say I will be able to swim another day. The next stop is in Bridgeport, CT for the Swim Across the Sound. I’ll be doing a 2-person relay with my childhood team mate, Geoffrey Michaud. Both of us grew up on the Manchester Rec Swim team.