Minneapolis (AP) University of Minnesota professor Ed Cussler has long wanted to know whether swimming in a substance thicker than water would slow someone down or allow them to swim faster.
With that in mind, Cussler coaxed 19 people, including some members of the university's varsity swim team, to swim in water mixed with guar -- a food thickener.
Logic suggests that a thicker substance would hinder swimming. Yet, as he watched the swimmers Monday, Cussler said, "It's not clear to me that you'd go slower."
The chemical engineering professor reasoned that the increased drag from the body might be countered, or even surpassed, by the hands' ability to push harder against the increased resistance.
With the university's permission, the group mixed the guar -- used to thicken ice cream, shampoo and other products -- in a large garbage can and dumped it into a pool in Cooke Hall.
Cussler said the result was a dirty-looking liquid that was twice a thick as water.
Each swimmer swam through 25 yards of the guar-thickened water, then took a break and swam the same distance in another pool -- all while being timed.
After almost five hours of testing, preliminary results suggested that there was no difference between swimming speeds in the slime and in clear water.
http://wcco.com/water/local_story_231102651.html
With that in mind, Cussler coaxed 19 people, including some members of the university's varsity swim team, to swim in water mixed with guar -- a food thickener.
Logic suggests that a thicker substance would hinder swimming. Yet, as he watched the swimmers Monday, Cussler said, "It's not clear to me that you'd go slower."
The chemical engineering professor reasoned that the increased drag from the body might be countered, or even surpassed, by the hands' ability to push harder against the increased resistance.
With the university's permission, the group mixed the guar -- used to thicken ice cream, shampoo and other products -- in a large garbage can and dumped it into a pool in Cooke Hall.
Cussler said the result was a dirty-looking liquid that was twice a thick as water.
Each swimmer swam through 25 yards of the guar-thickened water, then took a break and swam the same distance in another pool -- all while being timed.
After almost five hours of testing, preliminary results suggested that there was no difference between swimming speeds in the slime and in clear water.
http://wcco.com/water/local_story_231102651.html