To Close Or Not To Close

"Close your fingers!" has been shouted by more than one swimming coach to young swimmers learning how to swim freestyle. But is that the best way to swim?

Daniel Marinho, Tiago Barbosa, Victor Reis, João Vilas-Boas, Francisco Alves, Per Kjendlie, Abel Rouboa and António Silva presented their study, The Effect of Finger Spread on the Propulsive Force Production in Swimming, at this year's annual American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Seattle today.

The group conducted a study to determine the effect of finger spread on the propulsive force production in a swimmer's hand 3D model using computational fluid dynamics, a methodology used to analyze the hydrodynamic forces in swimming.

In other words, should you swim with your fingers closed tightly, with your fingers spread slightly apart or with your fingers apart?

The team created a 3D domain to simulate the fluid flow around three different models of a swimmer's hand with different finger spreads: (1) fingers held closely together, (2) fingers with a slight spread (0.32 cm) and (3) fingers with a large spread (0.64 cm). The models were created by computer tomography scans of an actual male swimmer's hand. Numerical simulations were calculated in three dimensions with the pitch angles of the hand models at 0°, 30°, 60° and 90° to determine drag and lift coefficients.

They found that the model with a slight finger spread presented higher values of drag coefficient than the models with the fingers closed and the fingers with the large spread. The values for the lift coefficient presented little differences between the three models for any given pitch angle.

In summary, the results suggest that fingers slightly spread can allow the hand to create more propulsive force during swimming...which is exactly what many top coaches teach and top swimmers do.

Upper photo shows David Meca, multiple world open water swimming champion and 2008 International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame inductee.

Lower photo shows David Davies, the bronze medalist in the 1500-meter freestyle at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the silver medalist in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Copyright © 2009 by Steven Munatones

David Meca, A Hall of Famer

Dale Petranech announced David Meca Medina as one of the newest inductees in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame this week.

David was not only the 1998, 2000 and 2005 world marathon swimming champion and a USC swimmer, but he also won 25 FINA World Cup races and was ranked number one in the 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2003 FINA World Cup circuit.

David was tirelessly competitive throughout his professional marathon swimming career, winning numerous races in his native Spain as well as in Macedonia, Egypt, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, USA, Finland, U.K., Croatia and Canada.


At the 2000 World Open Water Swimming Championships, David won a gold in the 25K and 2 silvers in the 5K and 10K to single-handedly lead Spain to a silver-medal team finish.

In an impressive body of solo swimming work, David swam 110K (68.3 miles) from Tenerife Island to Gran Canaria Island in 23 hours and 50 minutes in 2002 and 130K (80.7 miles) from the Spanish mainland to Ibiza Island in 26 hours and 30 minutes in 2006.

He broke the Strait of Gibraltar record by more than 40 minutes with a 2 hour 29 minute crossing in 1999 and did a 14 hour 5 minute triple crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar in 2008. He also swam fromGomera Island to Tenerife Island in the Canary Islands in 8 hours and swam the English Channel twice, in 7 hours 40 minutes in 2004 and 7 hours and 22 minutes in 2005, and swam 100K (62 miles) up the Guadalquivir River in Spain (against the current) in 2007.

David's record has been called into question in certain circles, but to David's credit, he has invited media representatives on his solo swims and as well as representatives of the Capitania Maritima (Merchant Marine) during his solo swims in Spain.

David has combined elite world-class swimming with a sense of solo adventure and a desire to travel the world doing what he loves. Back on land, he is also accomplished as an actor and TV host in his native Spain.

All photos from the David Meca website.

Who's Who of Marathon Swimming - Class of 2009

Under the leadership of Dale Petranech, the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame selected its Class of 2009, a classically international mix of open water swimming pioneers, endurance swimmers with a body of unprecedented swims and elite swimmers with a record of professional marathon racing success.

The 2009 eight honorees include Mike Read of Great Britain (shown above on right), Skip Storch of the USA, Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria, David Meca Medina of Spain, Maria Luisa Cabañeros Sanchez de Leon of Spain, Britta Kamrau of Germany, Frank Pritchard of the USA as an Honor Pioneer Swimmer, and Sunny Lowry of Great Britain (shown above on left).

The winner of the Irving Davids/Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award was Mike Read. The Davids/ Wheeler Memorial Award was established in 1970 by the New England Marathon Swimming Association on behalf of the Hall of Fame. Michael was King of the Channel® between 1979 –2000 when he was the most prolific English Channel swimmer with 31 crossings. He was the first person to make six successful crossings in one season, has swim over 110 open water swims over 16 kilometers, including many unprecedented swims, and served as the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Channel Swimming Association for 30 years.

Maria Luisa Cabañeros Sanchez de Leon set three Strait of Gibraltar records from Spain to Africa, from Africa to Spain and a double-crossing. She competed in professional marathon swims in Italy, Argentina, Canada, USA, Macedonia, Brazil and Mexico.

Britta Kamrau, who remains active on the FINA World Cup and Grand Prix circuits, won numerous professional marathon swims, including 25 different FINA World Cup races since 1997, and has been victorious in several European and world championship races at 10K and 25K distances.






David Meca Medina was ranked #1 in the 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2003 FINA World Cup circuits winning professional marathon swims in Macedonia, Egypt, Argentina, Brazil, Macedonia, Italy and USA, and competing in over 200 open water swims, including several unprecedented solo swims. He won the 2004 and 2005 Rolex Trophy for the fastest times of the season in the English Channel (7 hours 40 minutes and 7 hours 22 minutes).

Skip Storch has several ultra-marathon swims under his belt. He was nominated for ESPN’s Best Outdoor Sports Athlete for his 32 hour 52 minute triple circumnavigation swim around Manhattan Island.







Petar Stoychev has won nine consecutive FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix titles, including over 50 victories in individual professional marathon swims, and hold the English Channel record of 6 hours and 57 minutes. He was the flag bearer for the Bulgarian Olympic Team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he swam the 1500 freestyle and got sixth in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim.




Frank Pritchard was selected as the Honor Pioneer Swimmer for his marathon swimming career between 1927 and 1938. After finishing fourth in the 1928 USA Olympic Trials in the 1500 freestyle, Frank raced and beat many of the best marathon swimmers of his era and competed and won two Canadian National Exhibition races in Toronto, Canada in 1936-1937.

Sunny Lowry was honored posthumously after being president of the Channel Swimming Association between 2000-2007. After two unsuccessful attempts, Sunny completed the English Channel in 15 hours and 41 minutes in August 1933 becoming the seventh woman and fifteen person overall to conquer the English Channel.

We will provide additional career highlights of each of these outstanding individuals over the next few days.

Congratulations to all.

BBC photo of Sunny Lowry from her 1933 15-hour 41-minute crossing of the English Channel where she was branded as a harlot because she exposed her bare knees.

Photo of Skip Storch by Gulnara Samoilova.

Eat Well and Blame It on Third Spacing

During the holiday season, people around the world relax and eat well with their family and friends, often exercising less than they normally do.

But, if you are an open water swimmer, you have a built-in excuse. Blame it Third Spacing.

As many open water swimmers can attest, it is impossible to look as lean and mean after a long open water swim as it is before (see Olympic hero Grant Hackett before and after one of his open water swims).

As often happens in salt or brackish water, the body naturally swells from the prolonged exposure to water. This is why many open water swimmers look bloated and soft when they exit the water after a long swim. Many swimmers appear out of shape, especially around the stomach, hips and thighs, after long open water swims.

There is physiological phenamenon known as third spacing that causes the human body to appear waterlogged or swollen. Third spacing can also be accentuated by a loss of electrolytes. This results in extracellular fluids going out of the blood vessels and into the skin tissue that normally is not perfused with fluids.

And, as many ocean swimmers know well, the effects of third spacing are more noticeable based on the water salinity and duration of exposure.

So if you are less photogenic than normal after a long swim or holiday meal, blame it on Third Spacing.

Happy New Year!

Third spacing photo of Grant Hackett taken after his 10 km swim at the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships from the Sydney Morning Herald.

Third spacing photo of usually incredibly lean David Meca after winning the 25 km world championships in 2005.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Spotlight on Spanish Stars

There are two Spanish open water swimming stars who are up for nomination for the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame's class of 2009.

David Meca is an outstanding open water swimmer with a prolific and varied track record of success in nearly every type of swimming. David Meca was not only the 1998, 2000 and 2005 world marathon swimming champion and a scholarship athlete at USC, but he also won 25 FINA World Cup races and was ranked number one in the 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2003 FINA World Cup circuit.

David was tirelessly competitive throughout his professional marathon swimming career, winning numerous races in his native Spain as well as in Macedonia, Egypt, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, USA, Finland, U.K., Croatia and Canada.


At the 2000 World Open Water Swimming Championships in Honolulu, David won a gold in the 25K and a silver in the 5K and 10K to single-handedly lead Spain to a silver-medal team finish – he was Spain’s only swimmer!

In an impressive body of solo swimming work, David swam 110K (68.3 miles) from Tenerife Island to Gran Canaria Island in 23 hours and 5minutes in 2002 and 130K (80.7 miles) from the Spanish mainland to Ibiza Island in 26 hours and 30 minutes in 2006. He broke the Strait of Gibraltar record by more than 40 minutes with a 2 hour 29 minute crossing in 1999 and did a 14 hour 5 minute triple crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar in 2008. He also swam fromGomera Island to Tenerife Island in the Canary Islands in 8 hours and swam the English Channel twice, in 7 hours 40 minutes in 2004 and 7 hours and 22 minutes in 2005, and swam 100K (62 miles) up the Guadalquivir River in Spain (against the current) in 2007.

Maria Louisa Canañberos Sanchez de Leon is also a very strong candidate from Spain. Maria holds the women’s one-way record for the Strait of Gibraltar in 3:56:58 and completed numerous marathon swims in Croatia, Spain and Italy. She was also the European champion in the 5K in 1989, did a double-crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar in 10:58:56 and once swam 82,575 meters over a 24-hour period in a pool in Spain in 1993. She also placed at several professional marathon swims, including the Santa Fe-Coronda race in Argentina, the Rivera de Alassio in Italy, Sylvan Lake in Alberta, Canada, the 88K Maraton Acuatica Hernandarias - Parana race in Argentina, the Traversee Internationale du Lac Magog in Canada, the Atlantic City Around the Island Swim, the Lake Ohrid Marathon Swim in Macedonia, Mar del Plata in Argentina, Tapes in Brazil and Sumidero Canyon in Mexico.

David and Maria are a remarkable Spanish duo who both represent the best of open water swimming, with world-class swimming, a sense of solo swimming adventure and a desire to travel the world conquering myriad bodies of water.

All photos from the David Meca website.

Summer Classics - Ria Navia in Spain

In 2003, one of the most amazing and competitive open water races finished near the imposing statue of Christopher Columbus in the city of Barcelona, Spain.

During the men's 25K race at 2003 World Swimming Championships, Yuri Kudinov of Russia finished in 5 hours 2 minutes 20.0 seconds just touching out David Meca of Spain in 5 hours 2 minutes 20.4 seconds and Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria in 5 hours 2 minutes 20.6 seconds. The three men swam stroke-for-stroke for nearly 5 hours and the judges took several minutes to make the official decision of the final placing. The event was festive, the atmosphere was electric and the competition was exciting.

Like the Barcelona World Championships, there was many other open water swims in Spain that are festive, electric and exciting.

In mid-August, the fourth leg of the LEN European Open Water Swimming Cup was held in Navia, Spain.



The LEN race was held concurrently with the 51st edition of the Il Descenso a Nado de la Ria de Navia. The Navia race is held in the northern part of Spain in the Navia River close to the Atlantic Ocean. The salt water estuary is always calm with a water temperature generally between 18-20ºC (64-68ºF).

The Navia event holds a 1.1K, 1.7K, 3K and 5K races, in addition to the Long Distance Swimming Asturias Cup, a professional 5K race (800 euros for first). It is a competitive race with many open water swimming stars participating in the past, including Olympic 10K swimmers Yurema Requena, Jose Hervas, and bronze medalist Cassandra Patten. David Meca, a multiple world champion, dominated the race for years in the 1990's.

First photo of Yuri Kudinov, David Meca and Petar Stoychev finishing at the 25K 2003 World Swimming Championships taken by Dr. Jim Miller. The other photos are from the the Il Descenso a Nado de la Ria de Navia website.

Champions, Adventurers, Record Holders Endurers

Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

The International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame attempts to recognize the efforts of the most accomplished swimmers who participate in competitive events and do solo swims.

In our opinion, there are four general types of great open water swimmers:

1. The Champions
2. The Adventurers
3. The Record Holders
4. The Endurers

Each of these types of swimmers have significantly added to the annals of open water swimming history.

The Champions are those swimmers who are fastest in head-to-head competitions against other great open water swimmers. Abdel Latif Abou-Heif of Egypt in the 1950s, John Kinsella of Indiana in the 1970s, Paul Asmuth of Mission Viejo in the 1980s and, most recently, Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands, are examples of these Champions.

The Adventurers are those swimmers who have done unprecedented swims of historical proportions. Lynne Cox’s famous swim across the Bering Straits or Stewart Evans’ unprecedented swim from the Farallon Islands to the California mainland are just two examples of the exploits of these Adventurers.

The Record Holders are those swimmers who break records of acknowledged distances. Penny Lee Dean of California and Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria are two accomplished swimmers who set the bar by breaking the English Channel record. While there is always some luck in swimming in the right conditions (currents, wind, water temperature), there is no doubt that these Record Holders are to be held in the highest esteem.

The Endurers are similar to The Adventurers and include those swimmers who chose to swim the longest and furthest in terms of absolute distance and/or time. These swimmers include people like Diana Nyad of the U.S. who attempted to swim from Cuba to Florida in 1978 (in 41 hours 47 minutes), Suzie Maroney of Australia who did swim from Cuba to Florida in 24 hours 30 minutes or David Meca who took over 24 hours to swim from Spain to Ibiza, an island in the Mediterranean Sea. What drives these individuals to push past all mental and physical barriers during these lengthy and difficult swims is the stuff of legends.

Contributors to the sport can be involved in any of the swimmers described above. Escort pilots who guide the swimmers; coaches who train the swimmers; writers who describe the swimmers; filmmakers who document the swims; organizers who promote and direct swims; administrators who govern the sport.

Champions, Adventurers, Record Holders, Endurers - and Contributors who support them: they are all worthy of the ultimate admiration in the world of open water swimming and induction into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association