Awash with physical and mental health benefits, cold-water swimming is making big waves in the wellness industry. Veterans acclimatise themselves to the near-freezing temperatures over years. Men’s Health chose the fast lane. Come on in, the water is lovely…
Immersing yourself in water just the right side of ice triggers an involuntary physiological and psychological reaction. When you submerge yourself to neck level, it triggers the body’s cold shock response, instantly causing you to hyperventilate. Which, combined with the physical sensations of being in an unquestionably hostile environment, can result in genuine terror. Your breath escapes you, try as you might find it. Your skin scalds in the burning cold, and your limbs become distant friends who can’t quite hear what you’re saying to them.
“Most people who drown in cold water do so because they panic,” says Jeremy Laming, founder of Selkie Swim Co, an open-water apparel brand and my cold water swimming mentor. “It takes a while to go hypothermic: 30 minutes, give or take. But if you panic and breathe in water when you first go in…”
I’m receiving this pep talk on the jetty of a water sports club on Queenford Lakes, just outside Oxford, in early December. I’m here for my first acclimatization swim because, in the dank darkness of the second weekend of January, I’ll be off to south-west Scotland in search of the temperature standard of the true winter swimmer – sub-5ºC. Wetsuits aren’t worn by cold-water zealots. I’ll be swimming in “skins”: just a pair of swimming trunks, maybe a hat and goggles. Laming will be leading the trip, along with Katia Vastiau, a Selkie ambassador, photographer, open water evangelist and former national swimmer for Belgium. Today, both will be with me in the water, which the digital thermometer states are at 6.5ºC.
“Walking in is the safest way to enter cold water. Diving in is risky, especially for beginners. So stride, but don’t stop,” advises Laming. “Splash your body, then get your chest under. We’ll aim for five minutes and see how you get on.”
This story is from the May 2019 edition of Men's Health UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2019 edition of Men's Health UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Every Question You Ever Had About Really Eating Well
Nutrition is a maddening business. Foods are in one day, compost the next; vitamins that cured ills last week are promptly debunked. We all want to eat better, but who has the time to sift fact from fad? Rest easy because this is your easily digestible, bite-sized guide to doing precisely that
The False Prophets Of Wellness
Muscle, fat loss, wisdom… Whatever you seek, there is now an entrepreneurial guru armed with hashtags who claims to have the answer. But is it gospel?
The Brexit Diet
Whether you voted Leave or Remain, the EU has transformed the way we eat – and crashing out threatens to deal a mighty blow to both our palates and our nutritional health. MH spoke to the experts worried that the true impact of Brexit will leave a very bad taste in our mouths.
Stamina? It's As Easy As Pie
Don’t flake on post-workout pastry. Pie and mash is your new performance enhancer
The Trip Treatment
Once the poison of the counterculture, psychedelic drugs are gaining credibility as a powerful, viable mental health tool that could transform the way we understand ourselves. Are you ready to turn on, tune in and dose up?
The Gastropub Nutrition Plan
New research suggests you don’t need to cut back on flavour either to satisfy your cravings or to cook off kilos. Better pass that piccalilli
Your Detox Doner Card
The vilified sat fat in your kebab is actually the antidote to offset booze’s impact on your liver. How convenient
Reach For The Stars
He has crossed the Atlantic, from Peckham to Hollywood, carrying multiple blockbusters on his newly broad shoulders. But while John Boyega’s star is in the ascendant, his feet remain firmly on the ground – thanks to a few fundamental life lessons learned along the way. Take note and look up.
One Word Answer #43
As tedious as they might have seemed at the time, most of the lessons our parents taught us as kids were worthy of adherence. Sit up straight at the table; look people in the eye when you thank them; try not to spit at strangers – even as an adult, these are values to live by.
Son Of A Gun
For most men, joining the family business is the easier option. Not so for Scott Eastwood, a man whose father might just be the most iconic Hollywood hard man ever. But while he is, in many ways, a chip off the old block, the firebrand’s son has his own life well figured out
