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
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.
