The cult of wild swimming is turning sensible people into fools

Wild swimming – or “swimming” as it was known when I was growing up – has been all the rage for several years now, chiefly among townies who feel terrifically daring for taking exercise outside a lido. It’s a bit like “forest bathing” as a way of describing going for a walk in the woods; you can call it whatever you like but the essence of the thing is pretty basic.

Wild swimming is not swimming in a chlorinated pool – business as usual if you live near the sea or a large pond – and about three million people do it, apparently.

Now it turns out that outdoor swimming is less benign than we were all once led to believe. Besides boosting the immune system and reducing inflammation (the jury is still out on both those things), it may actually kill you if you are a middle-aged woman or could, at any rate, cause something called pulmonary oedema, where watery fluid accumulates on the lungs and can spread to the heart.

Writing in BMJ Case Reports, two cardiologists say that this danger may be linked to how the blood responds to cold, combined with blood vessels constricting in response to cold and increased blood flow during exercise. In other words, if you swim in freezing water, you’re asking for trouble.

I normally try to swim all year round when I’m in Ireland on holiday. And swimming in the Irish Sea at any time of year isn’t for wimps; in winter, it is actually freezing.

The way the water affects your palms and the soles of your feet – funnily, they’re the bits that register the cold first – amounts to real pain. The trade-off is that it’s exhilarating, especially on a bright, clear day – certainly, it wakes you up. The downside is that you may not stop shivering all day, particularly if your house isn’t heated.

This Christmas, I took one look at the weather and decided I’d pass on the outdoor swim. I knew it would be fun, that I’d see people I liked, that I’d get a kick from subjecting my overindulged body to extremes of cold, even if it was just for a couple of minutes. I’m not a natural ascetic, so the self-discipline would be good for me. And I’d be bound to burn some calories, no?

I also knew that friends in their seventies would be in there, as per usual, putting me to shame. But then it struck me that the satisfaction might be too dearly bought if I got sick.

And I was right. I came down with an unpleasant infection in any event; if I’d been in freezing water beforehand, I would probably have got it even worse. A friend who swims daily got flu; so much for the enhanced immune system.

There’s always going to be discomfort about putting your nice warm body into freezing cold water, and it never gets easy, but there comes a point when you should just follow your instincts. If swimming outside is making you sick, well, hold out until the water gets warmer.

I’ve always admired those saints who defied the elements, such as St Cuthbert, who used to say his psalms standing up all night in the North Sea and, when he got out, the otters would come to help him get warm.

If you’re not doing it for spiritual reasons, if you’re just showing off, why bother?

I’ve had infinite pleasure over the years swimming in lakes and pools and the open sea, all cold as can be, but if every instinct is telling you to stay at home with a hot whisky, I’d say, give in. read more