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There's an Icelandic legend that beat all this crap in 1984. His ship sank with all his friends and co-workers. He swam to shore, walked bare feet on razor shar

by jokull 16y ago

There's an Icelandic legend that beat all this crap in 1984. His ship sank with all his friends and co-workers. He swam to shore, walked bare feet on razor sharp lava and walked to town. Guðlaugur Friðþórsson. His descriptions are chilling. "When the ship sank from underneath us and we were submerged for the second time we decided [the three of us] to swim. We decided not to help each other which would have been hopeless. We spotted the lighthouse and started swimming towards it. Soon there was only the two of us left calling between us, but soon enough I stopped hearing any calls." More amazingness: On his way to shore a ship came within 100m of him. He spoke to "múkki" an imagined sailor's friend on the way, told himself jokes and said some prayers. When he came to shore he had to hold onto a rock wall while waiting for the tide to recede. While walking he spotted a bathtub used for lifestock feeding he punched through a layer of ice to get drinking water.

cromulent 16y ago
Apparently he survived because he was fat. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rYIJJP7audkC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=gudlaugur+fridthorsson&source=bl&ots=vaeOLOEykf&sig=cPCPEvKE3pD4hPNM4DAXH0GrmJM&hl=en&ei=BxA3TKSBLI-lOL2IoMEE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=gudlaugur%20fridthorsson&f=false http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rYIJJP7audkC&pg=PA26...
- avar 16y ago
  I can't find a citation for this now, but I recall reading somewhere that he had a higher ratio of brown fat than is normal. I.e. just being fat isn't enough, it has to be the right sort of fat.
  - Loy 16y ago
    http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/ http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/ However, a startling fact was discovered by the researchers from the University of Iceland: Guðlaugur’s fat is almost like seal fat. It is more solid and two or three times thicker than human fat.
- jedbrown 16y ago
  "cold water is highly viscous and impedes swimming" This is very size and speed dependent, but increased viscosity delays separation and can actually reduce drag [1], [2]. In any case, the viscosity difference is not huge and water temperature is normally not precisely controlled for swimming events. "Most people [...] suffer from vasodilation in extreme cold." Only when the core is doing well [3], the opposite (vasoconstriction) occurs otherwise. [1] http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/abstract/204/1/81 http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/abstract/204/1/81 [2] http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120798746/abstract http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120798746/abstrac... [3] http://www.springerlink.com/content/l776704k04017q43/ http://www.springerlink.com/content/l776704k04017q43/
  - cromulent 16y ago
    The Mythbusters checked the increased viscosity myth (opposite presumption, same speed is possible) and found it plausible. http://mythbustersresults.com/swimming-in-syrup http://mythbustersresults.com/swimming-in-syrup
    - alex_stoddard 16y ago
      It has been a long running debate which way viscosity would affect swimming. Higher velocity increases resistance to forward motion but also allows for more propulsive force from the swimmer - which will dominate? It turns a research group at UMN actually was crazy enough to do the test - it looks like the effects balance for a human swimmer. http://it.umn.edu/news/inventing/2004_Winter/goingforthegoo.html http://it.umn.edu/news/inventing/2004_Winter/goingforthegoo.... http://www.cems.umn.edu/research/cussler/pool/ http://www.cems.umn.edu/research/cussler/pool/
      - SkyMarshal 16y ago
        As as a swimmer, I know I'd much rather swim in cold water than warm, at least as far as pools go. It's easier to maintain momentum and glide in cold water, whereas swimming in warm water feels like you're swimming in molasses. Also, as my body heats up, cold water feels more cooling, obviously.
avar 16y ago
"Múkki" isn't an imagined sailor's friend. It's the Northern Fulmar, an abundant sea bird. He was talking to the birds he saw overhead to pass the time.
- jokull 16y ago
  Thanks for correcting me. Hvernig datt mér þetta í hug?
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
ciupicri 16y ago
Guðlaugur was dressed in jeans, shirt and sweater, with nothing on his feet. He did not know that wet clothes draw heat from the body 20 times faster than dry ones. [1] I'm curious what should I do if I fall into cold water: should I really take my clothes off or not? The first option sounds a bit counter intuitive to me. By the way, how can people swim in jeans or other clothes? I find it very hard, it's like dragging some weights. [1] http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/ http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/
- avar 16y ago
  Yes you should take your clothes off. They impede your movements and provide you with no insulation.
  - deadmansshoes 16y ago
    Are you sure about this? Surely they keep a layer of warmer water nearer your skin - the same way wet suits work. Once someone is out the water wet clothing should be removed.
    - avar 16y ago
      Wetsuits are made of neophrene, they only work because neophrene is completely waterproof. That's not the case with a pair of jeans and a sweater. New cold water will seep through much faster than your body can warm it. Even if you gained a fraction of a degree from tightly fitting clothes you'd lose much more than that through lack of mobility.
      - adolph 16y ago
        Wetsuits are named wet because their operational concept depends the water they absorb. Maybe you intended to refer to a drysuit? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetsuit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetsuit ". . .a thin layer of trapped water could be tolerated between the suit fabric and the skin, so long as insulation was present in the fabric in the form of trapped bubbles. In this case, the water would quickly reach skin temperature and the air in the fabric would continue to act as the thermal insulation to keep it that way. The suit did not need to be dry to be insulative."
code_duck 16y ago
I live in Michigan's UP, and there was a sailor who fell out of one of the shipping boats... at night. Lake Superior is 40-45 degrees out there, at best. He swam to miles shore and managed to knock on the door of an elderly couple. I'm impressed. That guy must be so fit.

by jokull 16y ago

cromulent 16y ago

Apparently he survived because he was fat. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rYIJJP7audkC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=gudlaugur+fridthorsson&source=bl&ots=vaeOLOEykf&sig=cPCPEvKE3pD4hPNM4DAXH0GrmJM&hl=en&ei=BxA3TKSBLI-lOL2IoMEE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=gudlaugur%20fridthorsson&f=false http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rYIJJP7audkC&pg=PA26...

avar 16y ago
I can't find a citation for this now, but I recall reading somewhere that he had a higher ratio of brown fat than is normal. I.e. just being fat isn't enough, it has to be the right sort of fat.
- Loy 16y ago
  http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/ http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/ However, a startling fact was discovered by the researchers from the University of Iceland: Guðlaugur’s fat is almost like seal fat. It is more solid and two or three times thicker than human fat.
jedbrown 16y ago
"cold water is highly viscous and impedes swimming" This is very size and speed dependent, but increased viscosity delays separation and can actually reduce drag [1], [2]. In any case, the viscosity difference is not huge and water temperature is normally not precisely controlled for swimming events. "Most people [...] suffer from vasodilation in extreme cold." Only when the core is doing well [3], the opposite (vasoconstriction) occurs otherwise. [1] http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/abstract/204/1/81 http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/abstract/204/1/81 [2] http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120798746/abstract http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120798746/abstrac... [3] http://www.springerlink.com/content/l776704k04017q43/ http://www.springerlink.com/content/l776704k04017q43/
- cromulent 16y ago
  The Mythbusters checked the increased viscosity myth (opposite presumption, same speed is possible) and found it plausible. http://mythbustersresults.com/swimming-in-syrup http://mythbustersresults.com/swimming-in-syrup
  - alex_stoddard 16y ago
    It has been a long running debate which way viscosity would affect swimming. Higher velocity increases resistance to forward motion but also allows for more propulsive force from the swimmer - which will dominate? It turns a research group at UMN actually was crazy enough to do the test - it looks like the effects balance for a human swimmer. http://it.umn.edu/news/inventing/2004_Winter/goingforthegoo.html http://it.umn.edu/news/inventing/2004_Winter/goingforthegoo.... http://www.cems.umn.edu/research/cussler/pool/ http://www.cems.umn.edu/research/cussler/pool/
    - SkyMarshal 16y ago
      As as a swimmer, I know I'd much rather swim in cold water than warm, at least as far as pools go. It's easier to maintain momentum and glide in cold water, whereas swimming in warm water feels like you're swimming in molasses. Also, as my body heats up, cold water feels more cooling, obviously.

avar 16y ago

"Múkki" isn't an imagined sailor's friend. It's the Northern Fulmar, an abundant sea bird. He was talking to the birds he saw overhead to pass the time.

jokull 16y ago
Thanks for correcting me. Hvernig datt mér þetta í hug?

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

ciupicri 16y ago

Guðlaugur was dressed in jeans, shirt and sweater, with nothing on his feet. He did not know that wet clothes draw heat from the body 20 times faster than dry ones. [1] I'm curious what should I do if I fall into cold water: should I really take my clothes off or not? The first option sounds a bit counter intuitive to me. By the way, how can people swim in jeans or other clothes? I find it very hard, it's like dragging some weights. [1] http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/ http://www.vikingrune.com/2009/03/true-viking-grit/

avar 16y ago
Yes you should take your clothes off. They impede your movements and provide you with no insulation.
- deadmansshoes 16y ago
  Are you sure about this? Surely they keep a layer of warmer water nearer your skin - the same way wet suits work. Once someone is out the water wet clothing should be removed.
  - avar 16y ago
    Wetsuits are made of neophrene, they only work because neophrene is completely waterproof. That's not the case with a pair of jeans and a sweater. New cold water will seep through much faster than your body can warm it. Even if you gained a fraction of a degree from tightly fitting clothes you'd lose much more than that through lack of mobility.
    - adolph 16y ago
      Wetsuits are named wet because their operational concept depends the water they absorb. Maybe you intended to refer to a drysuit? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetsuit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetsuit ". . .a thin layer of trapped water could be tolerated between the suit fabric and the skin, so long as insulation was present in the fabric in the form of trapped bubbles. In this case, the water would quickly reach skin temperature and the air in the fabric would continue to act as the thermal insulation to keep it that way. The suit did not need to be dry to be insulative."

code_duck 16y ago

I live in Michigan's UP, and there was a sailor who fell out of one of the shipping boats... at night. Lake Superior is 40-45 degrees out there, at best. He swam to miles shore and managed to knock on the door of an elderly couple. I'm impressed. That guy must be so fit.