Clay Evans just sent me an article from the New York Times about the street magician, David Blaine, who It appears that we have a shared reflex with dolphins: "...In his current training, he said, he does exercises every morning in which he breathes for no more than 12 minutes over the course of an hour, and he sleeps in a hypoxic tent in his Manhattan apartment that simulates the thin air at 15,000 feet above sea level. [...]
When Mr. Blaine began his breath-hold in the pool, his heart rate during the first minute fell to 46 from 81, a drop that was not entirely his own doing. Immersing the face in water produces a protective action in humans similar to that in dolphins, seals, otters and whales. Called the mammalian diving reflex, it quickly lowers the heart rate and then constricts blood vessels in the limbs so that blood is reserved for the heart and the brain.
By exploiting that reflex, free divers can remain active underwater for more than four minutes, and much longer if they remain still. The world-record holders have exceeded nine minutes after filling their lungs with ordinary air, and more than 16 minutes after inhaling pure oxygen. ..." [Link]
Could or would swimmers do this for the 100 or the 200 fly?
1 comment:
Hmmm...I don't know about the 200 fly but I know I do my sprint 25's fly without breathing. Also when I'm doing slow 50's I breath every 3. Maybe I should look into getting an oxygen tent for home.
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