I applaud both the athlete and the research so please forgive this ignorant question. Even if he can handle the waves, isn't he at a huge risk of being eaten by a shark or other predator as he does a 6 month swim across the Pacific?
According to Wikipedia, during his Atlantic crossing "he was accompanied by a 40 ft. sailboat that had an electromagnetic field for 25 feet to ward off sharks. He was followed by a great white shark for 5 days."
Sharks don't have internet access to know where he is, and fishermen have to go to quite a bit of effort to find their catch. Very few people are eaten by sharks, his odds of not being eaten are excellent.
His flesh eating enemies are likely to be microscopic. I would worry about things like contact dermatitis and skin infections from swimming thru who knows what.
At the risk of sounding naive, isn't "dangerous for your health" implied by "extreme"? The human body seems to be evolutionary geared towards moderate intensity with regular frequency more than anything else.
That is exactly what they're trying to find out. From the article:
"My question has always been, how much exercise do you need to do to injure the heart?" Levine says. "Since Ben was planning to swim across the Pacific Ocean, we thought, hey, this might be a good opportunity."
It could go on to show that extreme (exercising at low intensity for 8 hours a day for 5-6 months) isn't "dangerous for your health".
Does it count if he is using a snorkel? I know that's like the world's dumbest question, but I am really tempted to use a snorkel at my local swimming pool to help get exercise and avoid the whole not breathing for half the time issue.
You're doing it wrong if you're not breathing half the time. You just inhale sharply and exhale slowly for a few strokes; it should be almost meditative.
I think NPR is correct since freestyle means any stroke. Do you really think he's just going to do front crawl for 5-6 months, 8 hours a day? I'm sure he'll do some breaststroke and backstroke as well.
Generally, at least in competitive swimming, "freestyle" is synonymous with "front crawl." Technically, you can swim using any stroke you want during a freestyle event, but hardly anybody does since the front crawl is both the fastest and most efficient.
[+] [-] xiaoma|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lentil_soup|10 years ago|reply
Any idea how that works?
[+] [-] VLM|10 years ago|reply
His flesh eating enemies are likely to be microscopic. I would worry about things like contact dermatitis and skin infections from swimming thru who knows what.
[+] [-] VeejayRampay|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cityzen|10 years ago|reply
"My question has always been, how much exercise do you need to do to injure the heart?" Levine says. "Since Ben was planning to swim across the Pacific Ocean, we thought, hey, this might be a good opportunity."
It could go on to show that extreme (exercising at low intensity for 8 hours a day for 5-6 months) isn't "dangerous for your health".
[+] [-] lifeisstillgood|10 years ago|reply
If he can, so can I :-)
[+] [-] eric_h|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sanoli|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cujo|10 years ago|reply
http://www.finisinc.com/swimmers-snorkel.html
[+] [-] peteretep|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cityzen|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fearandclothing|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sanoli|10 years ago|reply