Story: Open water swimming

Preparing to swim

Preparing to swim

Open water swimmers are not allowed to wear thermal swimming costumes. To protect themselves from the cold, which can be lethal, they coat their bodies with grease, such as lanolin. Here marathon swimmer Philip Rush is being covered with grease before his successful double crossing of Lake Taupō in January 1985.

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New Zealand Herald
Reference: 15 January 1985

Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Nancy Swarbrick, 'Open water swimming - Long-distance and marathon swimming', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/6888/preparing-to-swim (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 12 Jun 2006, updated 1 Feb 2016