Does lanolin retain body heat? Myth or Fact?

Some marathon swimmers think lanolin helps retain body heat in cold water. Other marathon swimmers think this is a myth, and that lanolin is only for preventing chafing.
What do you think?
What do you think?
Comments
evan.marathonswimmers.org
evan.marathonswimmers.org
1.) Assuming that lanolin is a poorer conductor of heat than water, coating the skin with lanolin would increase the amount of time it took for the skin to get as cold as the water. Even if this affect were perceptible (which I doubt), it wouldn't last very long. After x number of seconds, the skin temperature would be the same as the water temperature. At most, it might reduce the initial shock of getting into the water.
2.) Coating the body with lanolin or Vaseline interferes with evaporative cooling. On land, that would make a huge difference. You would be miserable if you went for a run coated in lanolin. In the water, it's not a very big deal. But, you might be able to perceive your arms being warmer on a windy day if they were coated with one of those substances.
There is no way that a substance like lanolin can "trap" body heat.
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I was having a conversation with another marathon swimmer (we'll call him 'Joe'), which went something like this:
Joe: [statement that implied lanolin retains body heat]
me: Lanolin does not retain body heat.
Joe: Then why do marathon swimmers use lanolin, if not to retain body heat?
me: To prevent chafing, and because it stays on longer than vaseline.
Joe: Well, even if lanolin doesn't retain body heat, I bet most marathon swimmers think it does.
me: No, I don't think they do.
Joe: Yes they do.
me: No they don't.
blah blah blah.
So there you have it.
evan.marathonswimmers.org
Greasing the body remains one of the most enigmatic practices that I am still undecided about. All types of grease are used. Captain Webb used porpoise grease. Swimmers today use vaseline, lanolin, and various other heavy machine greases. Lanolin is by far the most used, but not the most popular.
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Once on it stays. Abo-Heif still had a significant amount clinging to him after his thirty-five hour Lake Michigan swim. The mechanical friction of the water removes vaseline rather quickly and is not recommended.
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There was one report where an investigator thought that swimmers would inhibit the metabolism of the skin by using grease and was for that reason against its use. He also suggested that the mechanical friction of the water rapidly removed, or significantly diminished, the lanolin or grease, thus removing any insulative layer at first present. However he found with later studies that only two to three millimeters were sufficient to give insulative results.
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In any case I have not seen any heavily greased swimmer suffer any negative effects from its use. Abo-Heif's swim alone should be testament to that fact. Any prolonged swimming in water below sixty degrees means the swimmer better have fat first and then grease. While the question of grease is still unanswered there is still the psychological uplift gained from its use. A full circle thus seems to have been made.
Personally I believe most of the swimmers will use the stuff. Aside from its purported insulative value there is one other value of significance. It serves as a lubricant around the friction points of the body.
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evan.marathonswimmers.org
One of the marathon swim related books, but for the life I can't remember which, had a bizarre discussion about this in which it said a small number of swimmers believed "that lanolin in fact retained cold", making the swimmer feel colder. The retaining cold phrase was so odd I haven't forgotten it.
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evan.marathonswimmers.org
evan.marathonswimmers.org
I have used lanolin but cannot say one way or other about long term heat retention other than hoping it works.
But would it also add bouyancy? Would it help you slip through the water?
Without the earplugs, the ear would fill with water. It takes more energy to heat water than it does to heat air, so the water in your ears would be colder than the earplug-protected air. Plus, water would keep circulating, so the warm-ish water would constantly be replaced with new cold water.
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