Fungal Infections

Trench foot, crotch rot, athlete's foot, and some more derogatory terms all apply to problems that affect all swimmers at one point in their careers: fungal infections. Swimmers spend most of their lives in dank, dark, moist environments, especially when you're in a pool for 5 to 6 hours a day, getting dressed in a pool locker room before and after practice and end up with a wet head for an hour or so after that. As any jungle explorer will tell you, that's just asking for trouble.

As with most health problems, the best thing a swimmer can do is take preventative measures against the single-celled onslaught. Here are some tips that have worked for me.

Don't wear your damp swimsuit home under your clothing. Many swimmers at some time in their careers need to get to another event after swimming quickly. They've somehow forgotten underwear or have worn their suit under their clothing in order to save time before practice. Fungus loves dark, wet, warm places to grow and if you have a wet swimsuit on under warm clothing, that's just asking for an infection. Even if it feels a bit strange, it's still better to go commando if you have no (or wet) underwear. This way you're warm and dry and safe from rot.

Dry out your swimsuit and towel completely between practices. Fungus spores are remarkably resilient so the drier your equipment stays, the safer your skin will be. Now I know that it is difficult to keep your suit and towel dry when you're going from morning practice to school, to evening practice. The cloth only really has seven or eight hours to dry while you're at school, but every little bit helps. Hang up your suit in your locker or even in your car, and do the same with your towel. It may look strange, but we never joined swimming to be "normal" did we?

Dry off completely before getting into your clothing. I know you're going to be in a hurry to get home to eat or to get to school, or whatever other practice you're shoehorning into your day, but not using your time in the locker room to dry off completely is asking for trouble. You'll want to towel off from the top to the bottom, starting at your head and hair then your arms, back, chest, suit-area, legs and feet. This way no water drips down as you're trying to dry yourself. Once you're done, get dressed from the top down. That way the parts of your body that aren't fully dry will have time to do so as you clothe yourself.

Hang your goggles out to dry completely between practices. You'd be surprised at how many eye infections start with damp goggles. Just like your suit and towel, make sure you hang out your goggles to dry between practices. I usually hung mine from my rear-view mirror in the car.

Find a dry place to put your socks and shoes back on after practices. Since feet usually go inside socks then shoes, they need special care to make sure they stay dry as you're getting dressed. Find a dry spot on the floor, and dry off your feet, especially between the toes. Then put a sock and shoe on one foot then a sock and shoe on the other. If you cannot find a dry spot, place your shoes on the floor and put your feet on top of your shoes as you dry your feet.

The most common areas for swimmers to get fungal infections are the feet, between the legs, under the armpits, and around the eyes. Most athletes foot remedies will handle any problems with your feet, but other, more delicate areas of your body will need a different remedy. For between the legs and in the armpits, most jock itch remedies will do the trick. For infections around the eyes though, you will have to be very careful not to get the fungicide in your eyes.

If a fungal infection is allowed to progress, though, the affected skin will peel and become red and tender to the touch. It will, however, still itch. Infections around the eye generally just show as flaky skin patches. For the most part none of these health issues are really life-altering. They are annoying and if they become visible, they can be embarrassing, so keep dry when you can.