Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!lanl!unm-la!unmvax!intvax!morimoto
From: morimoto@intvax.UUCP (Alan Morimoto)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Fat Swimmers
Message-ID: <604@intvax.UUCP>
Date: 10 Oct 88 13:58:54 GMT
References: <78300004@p.cs.uiuc.edu>
Organization: Sandia National Labs, Org. 1411, Albq, NM
Lines: 21

From article <78300004@p.cs.uiuc.edu>, by gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu:
> "In general, world-class swimmers have a higher percentage of body fat
> than almost every other type of endurance athlete.  Why is this?"
> 

I'm not sure that anything I am about to write has been proven by a
scientific study, but I do know that it has been observed by some scientists
that swimmers are prone to developing more fat because of the temperature of
the water they swim in.  In other words, because the water temperature is
usually much lower than body temperature, the body has a tendency to want to
protect itself from the cold by forming a layer of fat on the exterior of
the body.  Since runners usually wear plenty of clothing they don't have the
same exposure to cold and therefore do not develop this fat.


>alan
-- 
		{	Humans are the only animals that       }
		{	don't breed to improve the species.    }

			--Alan