Time To Take The Plunge?

Wild swimming is taking off in rivers, lochs and seas…

- Julia Horton

IT’S like Cocoon every time you come out of the water,you feel so energised.”

As an answer to the question of why anyone would swim outdoors in a less-than-tropical country like Scotland, Jean Goodwin’s response is pretty appealing.

In the Oscar-winning 1980s film, a group of pensioners enjoying dips in a pool where extra-terrestrials have left cocoon-shaped rocks experience unexpected rejuvenating effects.

While people’s reasons for braving the chilly depths of a Scottish loch are definitely varied, Goodwin, a 40-something insurance claims adviser from Balloch, beside Loch Lomond, is far from alone in her love of wild swimming.