Swimming in Cold Water Has Done Wonders for My Stress
There’s a scientific rationale for why some people find swimming in the freezing cold to be so invigorating
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In eighth grade, I accidentally bumped against a low-voltage cattle fence while pounding a posthole into the mud with an iron rod. It wasn’t until I began swimming in the bracingly cool waters of the Atlantic this autumn that I felt a similar electric jolt. My initial plunge sent a scream through my torso and limbs, down through the tips of my fingers and toes. It was a stinging, full-bodied smack—but then a pleasant numbness. I swam along the shore for a full 20 minutes. When I came out, I felt more alive than I have through most of the pandemic.
I was hooked. And, judging from the handful of triathletes and eastern European stalwarts I spotted in the waves along with me, I wasn’t alone. When I recently returned to my swimming spot on Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach — six weeks, five swims, one wetsuit, and a water temperature drop of eight degrees Fahrenheit later — a string-bikini-wearing grandmother beat me into the water.
In a stroke of pandemic restlessness, I’d unwittingly opened the door to a hobby with a devoted, year-round following — and centuries of health hype.
People have bathed in cold water for fun and fitness since antiquity. But according to some sources, “wild swimming” has seen a recent upswing in popularity. It’s an especially popular activity across northern and eastern Europe and throughout the U.K., where members of open-water swimming clubs descend on their local oceans, lakes, and ponds well after the lifeguards and sun revelers have hung up their Speedos for the season.
These swimmers aren’t just endurance bros and Baltic babushkas, either. The Instagram page for a virtual, millennial-friendly, all-season swimming club called The Outdoor Swimming Society boasts 43,000 followers, many of whom post swim selfies with hashtags that nod at a holistic health bent…
