Last Wednesday, Mrs Cromarty and Mrs Jopson took the Year 13 Biologists to the University of Otago School of Physical Education. This is a continuation of the work done at the School of Physiology a couple weeks before on how our bodies Thermoregulate. 

They had a session in the Flume which is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere of its particular type. The boys sat in an ice bath for 5 minutes where their breathing rate, skin temperature and comfort were measured. Then they jumped in the 40 degree hot bath and the same measurements were taken after which they jumped into the Flume which was warm water. They also had a try at swimming against the current which allowed them to measure energy output. 

The next session was riding a bike for 15 minutes in a chamber at 40 degrees celsius and 60% humidity. The heart rate, core temperature, skin temperature, breathing rate and comfort were all monitored. Lastly, Quinten Holland and Alex MacDonald spent time on the treadmill where their VO2 Max was determined. It is safe to say that the PE staff were quite impressed with the fitness of both of them with Alex deemed to have a superior VO2 Max.

We would like to thank Nigel Barrett and the staff at the Department of Physical Education for hosting us and giving the boys such a fantastic opportunity to use the facilities.