>> > So how do the polar bear club type swimmers handle the gasp reflex? You > see film clips every winter of these folks in skimpy swim suits jumping > into icy lakes and at least pretending to enjoy the experience. If you fill your lungs to maximum capacity, the reflex is basically rendered irrelevant; I've done this a couple times practicing rolls in cold water. I still *feel* the gasp; but because my chest is already expanded to its physical limit, no water gets breathed in. Doesn't stop the icecream headache though..... Richard Walker >> I've never felt either the gasp reflex or an ice cream headache, and I'm one of those people who has submerged myself in a hole in the ice after a sauna, and rolled my kayak in 34-degree water (ice floating in the Mississippi River on New Year's Day). Of course, I've never done the latter without a drysuit, and I usually wear a hood, but I have tested myself without the hood in 38-degree water a couple of times. So while I accept that the gasp reflex is real, I do not accept that it is inevitable. I think mental and physical preparation can have a significant impact on its likelihood. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Sep 07 2000 - 06:07:51 PDT
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