As mere spectators, we know that training for and competing in the Olympics probably results in bodily fluids for our world-class athletes. Sweat, snot, probably some tears?
However, according to some of the athletes, it gets a little more... intimate than that.
While this is something we have all rightly been told to never do in public swimming pools, Olympic athletes apparently pee while they’re swimming quite often which means that, yes, Olympic swimmers are swimming in pee.
Lilly King, a three-time Olympian for Team USA said to Wall Street Journal: “I’ve probably peed in every single pool I’ve swam in, that’s just how it goes.”
Another athlete, Zach Harting, who competed for the U.S. at the Tokyo Olympics peed in his swimming suit for the first time at the Alabama high-school state championships.
Now, he has a wild perspective on swimming. He said: “The world changed for me.
“Every time I went to a pool after that, I only considered myself to have swam in it if I peed in it.”
Oh.
Why does swimming make people need to pee?
According to U.S Masters Swimming, most open water swimmers do actually pee in the water quite often.
They said: “For most open water swimmers, taking a leak is part and parcel of every swim—sometimes multiple times—and we invest a good bit of time and energy into perfecting the ability to “go” on the go.”
For all swimmers, though, there is a potential reason why you might need to pee more while you’re in the water and it’s called ‘immersion diuresis’
This occurs whenever the body is immersed in water and it happens because cold water and immersion causes narrowing of the blood cells in the extremities, giving us the urge to pee.
U.S Masters Swimming added: “You may notice that you feel thirstier after an open water swim than you do after a pool swim, and that could in part be related to immersion diuresis.
“Listen to your thirst, and aim to stay well-hydrated before, during, and after all workouts.”
Brb, I need to pee now.