Can swimmers become dehydrated while swimming?

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If a person is dehydrated, it means his or her body has lost a lot of water. Our bodies need water to function, so if we lose too much of it, it can make us sick. A big way we lose water from our bodies is by sweating. That’s why athletes have to make sure they drink plenty of fluids. We can also lose water through other ways, like breathing and going to the bathroom.

You might think that because swimmers are surrounded by water that they shouldn’t be able to get dehydrated, but it can happen. Swimmers might not notice that they are sweating because they are surrounded by water. They do sweat, and if they get dehydrated it can be dangerous.

Our bodies also do not absorb water, so even though we’re in a pool or an ocean, we’re not getting any more water inside our bodies—unless we drink it. But don’t go drinking ocean or pool water because they’ll just make you sick! Only drink water that a grown-up, who you trust, says is okay.

Swimming is a lot of fun. Just make sure you stay hydrated and have a grown-up there to watch you.

Sweaty plants? 

Have you ever seen a sweaty plant?

If you’ve ever seen droplets of water on a plant leaf, you might think the plant was sweating. Plants don’t sweat like people do. We sweat to cool ourselves off.

One thing you could be seeing is dew. Dew is moisture from the air that has condensed (gotten cool and changed from a gas to a liquid) and collected on the plant leaves. Normally this happens overnight and you see the dew drops in the morning.

Plants also do something a little bit like sweating, where they get rid of water through tiny holes in their leaves. This process is called transpiration. When we sweat, it’s called perspiration. The purpose of transpiration is not fully agreed on, but it may help plants bring nutrients up to their leaves with the water, and it may help to protect the leaves from the bright sunshine.