It doesn’t give you a layer of protection. The chlorine will kill anything that’s on your skin when you get in, but any protection from viruses you may come in contact with after you get out will be minimal, if any.

You still need to wash your hands.

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Definitely, no.

I swim all year in a well chlorinated pool. Still get the flu.

---

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
--

IME it slightly increases my chances due to the chlorine irritating/drying my nasal linings.

---

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

How often do you get the flu? Definitely flu? Not bad cold or some of the symptoms flu has?

Try gargling between repeats.

Who cares about protection after you swim? I'd like to know if you can get the virus from swimming in a pool with someone who is sick.

---

What's your CdA?

As long as they chlorinate properly, it is safe. TBH the fecal matter that's always there is a bigger concern.


https://www.hpsc.ie/...mming%20Pools_V3.pdf

---

Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

i've done a bit of reading on this recently and what i gather is that yes, chlorine is pretty good at killing cold/flu type viruses. however it takes a bit of time - up to an hour. so if you are sharing the pool with someone who has a virus then you could very much catch it from them since your mouths and noses are both exchanging fluids with the water. however if you come along a bit later then you will probably be ok.

I started swimming 4 years ago and have not had a cold of any kind since then...until 3 weeks ago. I used to have sinus infections all the time - even had surgery on them.

I have thought the pool has kept my nasal passage clean, like a really large Netty pot :)

3 weeks ago, I felt sickness coming on so went to the pool to swim and ward it off. OMG, the sickness the next two days. It lasted 3 weeks, but those first two days hurt in my face at a level I can't explain.

Good lord. You're actually serious?

Damn!

---

808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Oh, and just to nitpick, coronaviruses are not the flu. Completely different diseases.

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Seriously???????
By that logic people should be drinking surface cleaners on a regular basis to ward off infections.
Important Note: DO NOT drink surface cleaners!

You're talking like chlorine is some magical substance that might imbue you with immunity.
Disinfection and sterilisation methods in general are about direct contact for a sufficient period between the agent and the pathogen.
If a piece of material or a creature is contaminated externally with bacteria, viruses or fungi and you wash it sufficiently well with effective agents you can expect to kill or inactivate the pathogens present and make them safe. If the pathogen is within the material (inanimate or animate) then, washing it externally doesn't do much except perhaps reduce the contamination it will spread to it's surroundings. How would you to bring the agent into contact with every cell of the pathogen?

There are a few ways to kill most pathogens including heat, radiation and chemical agents (bleaches, alcohols, etc).
However these are not generally useful for treating patients after they've become infected, because a sufficient level to kill the pathogen typically also kills humans.
A sauna won't eradicate your flu any more than a wash in chlorinated water, because it's just a surface treatment (and I doubt your skin ever gets hot enough to even achieve any surface disinfection or it would also damage skin cells and burn you). You'd have to literally cook someone (well done) to kill most pathogens in their body - not very useful. Similarly radiation like UV might provide some effect at the surface for certain pathogens but you would need a full body exposure to sufficient dose of radiation to kill the pathogen. I'm going to hazard a guess that you'd reach a lethal dose long before you'd kill off all the other life forms inside your body.

TLDR - No

No, but I always thought that with all the other bacteria, viruses, and pathogens picked up while swimming in a public pool that it helps build up a robust immune system.

i think i would rather have the flu than all the crap that comes with my sinuses and the drainage i get from being in chlorine water.

---

80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Yes it will but only if you swim with your mouth open.............

Doesn't apply if you never started!