By Larry Lombaard
Silencing the zing of mosquitoes and the wearing of chilly jumpers are going to be vital to retain a keen competitive edge among South Africa's Olympians in the intense heat and humidity of Athens from the moment they arrive at the Olympic Village on Wednesday.
"Mozzie" repellants and chilly jumpers are high on a long list of items that the SA Olympic medical team have built into their operations to ensure that the athletes get enough rest and overcome heat that is expected to touch on 40 degrees C and 80 percent humidity in the bustling Olympic city.
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"Overcoming the heat and ensuring good recovery are crucial for our athletes in their preparation and competition," said Wayne Derman, professor of sports medicine at the University of Cape Town's Sports Science Institute who heads the SA Olympic medical team.
"And the Chilly Jumper is going to be a key element in achieving this."
The chilly jumper contains a special coolant gel and fits like a flak jacket to prevent over-heating of the body.
"We have 25 of these jackets to be used on a rotational basis," said Derman. "They will be especially useful for our hockey players during breaks in training and competition. The chilly jumpers reduce skin temperature from 37 to 24 degrees in five minutes - which is phenomenal because the body can only store so much heat before breaking down."
The jumpers would also be useful for individual athletes like Hestrie Cloete, Jacques Freitag, Frantz Kruger and Janus Robberts who may need to cool down during jumps or throws if conditions are boiling inside the Olympic Stadium.
"Mosquitoes also pose a problem, especially if they threaten to keep our athletes awake at night," said Derman. "We have an advance party at the Village in Athens right now and we are waiting for a report from them. If the mozzies pose a problem we must make sure we have effective repellants - we may have to use pads.
"Proper rest is vital for form and morale and to achieve this we have a valuable resource in the team psychologist Clinton Gahwilen who has worked with team members for the past year-and-a-half. He's there to teach methods of relaxation with the help of technology for brain bio-feedback, which is a great asset for recovery."
Derman said the athletes and coaches had been informed on the importance of acclimatising to the heat slowly on a day-to-day basis. "There'll be no jet-lag like we had in Sydney, but adjusting to the heat has got be monitored very carefully N very slow at first with no more than 30 minutes of physical activity on the first day. It takes 10 to 14 days for 95 per cent heat-adjustment and 75 per cent of that happens in the first five days.
"It has to be a very slow buildup in terms of intensity and duration.
"Dehydration must be prevented at all costs and the athletes have been taught to monitor the colour of their urine - the warning signs are too yellow or orange.
"They've also been advised to wear light-coloured clothing to reflect the heat.
"There will also be constant weigh-ins to monitor possible fluid loss. We'll also be monitoring their weight to ensure they don't over-eat in the canteen where all kinds of tasty food is in abundance and for free."
The medical team includes five physios who will ensure that the athletes avail themselves to cryotherapy in ice-baths that aid recovery from training and competition.
New stresses on the medical team include the monitoring of the whereabouts of athletes at all times in case of dope-testing by Wada as well as applying for exemption certificates for the application of medicines that include eye, ear or nose drops that contain cortisone.
"The responsibilites are huge," said Derman. - Sapa
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