Maarten will attempt a 200km non stop swim along 11 Dutch cities in Friesland. The 11 cities is a famous speedskate event in the winter when the canals are frozen. The speedskate event was last held in 1997.
He is doing this to raise money and awareness for cancer. Maarten himself is a cancer (leukemia) survivor.
Last 2 years he prepared for this be doing 24 hours swim events and crossing The Channel (back and forth).
Big challenge mentioned by Maarten are the nights as he will not try to sleep.
Also, he is the 10k OW Olympic champion of 2008 (Beijing) and the 25k OW world champion of 2008.
Big challenge mentioned by Maarten are the nights as he will not try to sleep.
And hypothermia. He has different wetsuits (but the thicker, the harder the swimming will be) and even a experimental wetsuit with wiring in the neopreen for heating.
Start is tomorrow (early) morning at 4:30 (+1 GMT).
Maarten has set the world record for a 24 hour pool swim across a 50m pool, and also had an attempt where he came up just short. He’s completed several “marathon” swims, 26.2 mikes in a pool, for chartities. He’s an Olympic gold medalist in the 10km OWS, and has several world titles (and many appearances) in fina 25k OWS events. I’d say he’s coming in as well-prepared as anyone, ever.
Aside from the risks of hypothermia and currents, OWS for long duration is probably much easier on the body than similar time spent running or even biking. In my own experience, I once swam a 12 mile race solo, nearing 5 hours. I hopped out of the water, heaved the guide kayak onto the roof, and drove home. I’ve also done century rides in training for IM, and nine marathons, and I felt better after 5 hours of swimming than I’d ever felt after 5 hours of cycling or 3 hours of running.
Maarten inspired a personal goal to try a 24 hour swim. I didn’t get a chance this year to build the base, but I might try again later.
Ya, this guy is the real deal when it comes to marathon swimming. He has the unique blend of actually being super fast, and the mindset to be able to just keep going. Most endurance swimmers have some speed, but nothing like this dude. He is going to rewrite a lot of records before he retires, and set a bunch of brand new ones…
What Monty said. The speed at which Maarten finishes these epic swims is unreal. Lewis Pugh is a legend in his own right and wouldn’t be caught dead in a wetsuit, but there’s never been an ultra-endurance swimmer that can maintain speed like Maarten.
I’d be interested to know what precautions he’s taking for bacteria. I’d have to imagine 200K of canal swimming would be torture on his insides. What’s he going to do when he has to shit?
The idea was that people could swim together with Maarten and donate. However due to the high temperature last few weeks E. coli-bacteria is found and therefore it is strongly advised not to swim with Maarten. So Maarten will probably swim alone.
What’s he going to do when he has to shit?
An extra zipper in his (prototype) wetsuit…
His wetsuits also have heating wires. Core temperature is measured with a temperature pill.
Instead of klunen (google that), he will be hoisted over two passages in a bag similar to which they transport dolphins.
There are a few things to comment on here.
“shitting while swimming”?? It took awhile for me to execute peeing while swimming w/o breaking stride. But #2 is a huge psychological no no I can’t imagine!
Wires in a wetsuit, sounds sketchy but sure, someone’s gotta try it and I have a friend with a condition that could really use this.
Being transported in a bag - like fish from the store? 8-O
What’s he going to do when he has to shit?
An extra zipper in his (prototype) wetsuit…
His wetsuits also have heating wires. Core temperature is measured with a temperature pill.
Instead of klunen (google that), he will be hoisted over two passages in a bag similar to which they transport dolphins.
There are a few things to comment on here.
“shitting while swimming”?? It took awhile for me to execute peeing while swimming w/o breaking stride. But #2 is a huge psychological no no I can’t imagine!
Wires in a wetsuit, sounds sketchy but sure, someone’s gotta try it and I have a friend with a condition that could really use this.
Being transported in a bag - like fish from the store? 8-O
Have you never had to get out of the pool to go take a crap??? I have to do this maybe every 3 months or so. I could easily crap in the pool but they kind of frown on that. Of course, the “extra zipper” brings up the question of is he “going commando” under his wetsuit, without even a Speedo on??? So many complex issues here…
In any case, swimming 200,000 meters straight will be an incredible feat if he makes it. Makes the 10K swim sound like a mere warm-up.
What’s he going to do when he has to shit?
An extra zipper in his (prototype) wetsuit…
His wetsuits also have heating wires. Core temperature is measured with a temperature pill.
Instead of klunen (google that), he will be hoisted over two passages in a bag similar to which they transport dolphins.
There are a few things to comment on here.
“shitting while swimming”?? It took awhile for me to execute peeing while swimming w/o breaking stride. But #2 is a huge psychological no no I can’t imagine!
Wires in a wetsuit, sounds sketchy but sure, someone’s gotta try it and I have a friend with a condition that could really use this.
Being transported in a bag - like fish from the store? 8-O
**Have you never had to get out of the pool to go take a crap??? ** I have to do this maybe every 3 months or so. I could easily crap in the pool but they kind of frown on that. Of course, the “extra zipper” brings up the question of is he “going commando” under his wetsuit, without even a Speedo on??? So many complex issues here…
In any case, swimming 200,000 meters straight will be an incredible feat if he makes it. Makes the 10K swim sound like a mere warm-up.
Not that I can remember, but that wasn’t what I was referring to. I thought the idea of the bag of water was to not stop swimming for any reason. So I figured that also meant not stopping to go use a toilet.
What’s he going to do when he has to shit?
An extra zipper in his (prototype) wetsuit…
His wetsuits also have heating wires. Core temperature is measured with a temperature pill.
Instead of klunen (google that), he will be hoisted over two passages in a bag similar to which they transport dolphins.
There are a few things to comment on here.
“shitting while swimming”?? It took awhile for me to execute peeing while swimming w/o breaking stride. But #2 is a huge psychological no no I can’t imagine!
Wires in a wetsuit, sounds sketchy but sure, someone’s gotta try it and I have a friend with a condition that could really use this.
Being transported in a bag - like fish from the store? 8-O
**Have you never had to get out of the pool to go take a crap??? ** I have to do this maybe every 3 months or so. I could easily crap in the pool but they kind of frown on that. Of course, the “extra zipper” brings up the question of is he “going commando” under his wetsuit, without even a Speedo on??? So many complex issues here…
In any case, swimming 200,000 meters straight will be an incredible feat if he makes it. Makes the 10K swim sound like a mere warm-up.
Not that I can remember, but that wasn’t what I was referring to. I thought the idea of the bag of water was to not stop swimming for any reason. So I figured that also meant not stopping to go use a toilet.
Actually, the ultra long D swimmers typically stop every 20 min, or at most every 30, for a feeding. Acc to the OW rules, the swimmer can not touch the boat and his/her assistant must hold the feed bag or bottle out to the swimmer using a long pole-like contraption with something like a clothes pin or similar at the end to which the bag/bottle is attached. I’m not exactly sure how the rules are worded but my impression is that the helper and swimmer can not touch each other at all, which is obv why they use the pole. So, while stopped for a feeding, or between feedings, the swimmer could unzip his butt zipper and let the crap go, then quickly swim away. IOW, the swimmer can stop during a “continuous swim” but he/she must tread water while stopped with no touching of the boat (or the bottom of the ocean/lake, if water is that shallow) allowed. This is my understanding; a more knowledgeable OW may correct me if i’m off-base.
Don’t want to seem like a “hater” but, since he rested on the boat for 3 hrs, this is not a “continuous” swim any longer. Minor point perhaps as he has already swum a long, long, long way.
Depends how you define continuous. For me if those 3 hours are part of your race time it is continuous.
OK, i’ll grant you that but i would not say it is “non-stop” (as your thread title says) since he did stop for 3 hrs. Of course, since he’s wearing a wetsuit, he was violating the OW rules from the start. AFAIK, Sarah Thomas’s swim of the 80-mi length of Lake Powell (Utah/Arizona in western U.S.) in 56 hr and 5 min in Oct 2016, sans wetsuit and with no stops other than treading water during feedings, still owns the WR for longest continuous, non-stop, non-wetsuit swim.
