On a sunny day there can surely be nothing more glorious than swimming outdoors, surrounded by blue sky and birdsong. ‘We’ve seen more and more people take to wild swimming – in rivers, lakes and the sea – since pools were closed during the pandemic,’ says Jon Glenn of Swim England. Specifically, female participation in outdoor swimming increased from 50% in 2017 to 65% in 2020, according to Outdoor Swimmer magazine’s annual report.
So, as the weather warms up, you may be tempted to join them, thanks to cold-water swimming’s array of health benefits. Fans claim that being in cold water will make you feel more alive and alert and 69% of outdoor swimmers say it is essential or very important to their mental health*. Cold-water swimming could also boost your immunity and wage war on a range of inflammatory conditions including depression, diabetes, dementia and arthritis.
That said, our understanding of
