Mike Tipton (UK)

Professor of Human & Applied Physiology, 

Extreme Environments Laboratory, University of Portsmouth, UK. 

Professor Tipton has spent 40 years researching the areas of drowning and thermoregulation, environmental and occupational physiology and survival in the sea. He has published widely in these areas including the books, “The Essentials of Sea Survival” and “The Science of Beach Lifeguarding”. Prof Tipton was a Trustee of Surf Lifesaving GB and is a Council member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and The Physiological Society, and was awarded: an MBE for services to physiological research in extreme environments; the Ireland Medal for saving lives from drowning worldwide and the H&L Swiftwater rescue lifetime achievement award from the USA. 

Mike Tipton will have three presentations at WADC Learn to Swim:

1. The history of “float to live”. The story for “float to live from the 1980s to today, from lab to lifesaving.
2. Where should I learn to swim? Why learning to swim in a pool may be dangerous (i.e. not prepare you for open water swimming). 
3. Cold water immersion: kill or cure?Is cold immersion good or bad for you? How to maximise benefits and minimise risks.