According to health expert Carl James of the Environmental Extremes Laboratory, when the temperature reaches over 30 degrees Celsius and the Wimbledon players are engaged in a five-hour match, then the typical participant will sweat out three liters of sweat an hour.
Critically, a BBC review of James’ work reports, this is more fluid than the body is capable of replacing. This means that the risk of dehydration is high and the physiological effect on the body will inevitably slow the players down. This might explain why some five-set matches have the air of drama in the fifth set when both players make the odd unforced error and the drama level rises with the closeness of the contest.
Sweat (or perspiration) is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin. The point of sweating is thermoregulation, to help the body cope at times when the surrounding temperature is warm. There are other reasons too, according to Boots Health:
Sweating is your body’s built-in cooling system
Sweating is your body’s way of getting rid of that extra heat, during exercise.
Your emotions – from anger to love to stress – can make you sweat.
Sweating is a response to spicy food.
It is a way of dealing with fever.
It is triggered by nicotine, especially when smoking cigarettes.
It is often associated with pregnancy.
Some medications, like antidepressants, blood pressure medicines and diabetes drugs, can make people sweat more.
The Environmental Extremes Laboratory is based at Brighton University’s sports science department. Two related departments are “The makings of the world class athlete” and “Anti-doping.”
