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The amount of water ingested while swimming has been of interest for many years. Several investigators have made estimates about how much water might be swallowed by swimmers through a variety of techniques not utilizing empirical data related to ingestion. Table 1 summarizes such estimates that have been suggested by researchers over the last 70 years. The estimates ranged from 10 mL to 50 mL.

Table 1

Historical non-empirical estimates of water ingested by swimmers during swimming activity

Source/YearIngestion estimate (mL per event)
Streeter (1951)  10 
Steiniger (1954)  50 
Shuval (1975)  10 
Borneff (1979)  50 
Rees (1993)  10–15 
WHO (2003)  30–50 
Steyn & Genthe (2004)  50 
Source/YearIngestion estimate (mL per event)
Streeter (1951)  10 
Steiniger (1954)  50 
Shuval (1975)  10 
Borneff (1979)  50 
Rees (1993)  10–15 
WHO (2003)  30–50 
Steyn & Genthe (2004)  50 

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