At eye-level with the surface of the sea....
April 16, 2021 6:04 PM Subscribe
How Cold Water Swimming Cured my Broken Heart. "When I am in the sea I am a mystery to myself. I have no idea how I got here, or why or what I am doing. I am only swimming and I am amazed." After a breakup and the death of her father a writer ended up living on the coast of Brittany in winter where she went for a daily swim in the icy sea.
Looking wistfully on, from a distance...
As a resident of the Phoenix metropolitan area, I am once again chagrined that there is no ocean or sea within many hours' drive.
posted by darkstar at 7:50 PM on April 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
As a resident of the Phoenix metropolitan area, I am once again chagrined that there is no ocean or sea within many hours' drive.
posted by darkstar at 7:50 PM on April 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
darkstar, you just need to get creative. Think of your name on the byline for "How Wearing a Parka in the Arizona Summer Banished My Existential Funk. "
posted by Panjandrum at 8:33 PM on April 16, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by Panjandrum at 8:33 PM on April 16, 2021 [14 favorites]
I don't know about icy sea, but I hope to jump in soon-ish. I take the long way to work most of the time just so I can drive along more water.
posted by vrakatar at 8:37 PM on April 16, 2021
posted by vrakatar at 8:37 PM on April 16, 2021
So, I have been taking cold showers since September last year. Every day. I started turning cold on after a hot shower, building up a little longer each day in the cold. One day I was like, "Just go straight into a cold shower." And I did, and have ever since. I've timed myself up to about 10 minutes in the cold shower, and feel like I could go longer. A few days a week I'll do the Wim Hof breathing exercise also. Here's a few things:
- It does get easier, although there's pretty much always a little barrier of dread to overcome. Best not to think and just jump in.
- It doesn't get progressively colder. The first 20 seconds is the worst, then you body starts reacting and you don't get colder. Sometimes I almost feel like I can even will my body to generate warmth.
- It always feels great afterwards and that feeling can last a while.
- It feels like I have more focus and mental clarity after a cold shower. Sometimes I'll treat myself to a warm shower, and whilst that feels great, there's not that same feeling.
- I haven't had a cold since starting the cold showers. Yes, it's been over the Summer, but the past couple years, I've always had cold by this time.
Without wanting to be an evangelist, cold showers feel like the best thing I've done for my physical and mental health in a few years.
Still and all, cold water swimming feels like the same bridge to far from where I am now, that cold water showers did a year ago. But maybe one day... :)
posted by maupuia at 9:00 PM on April 16, 2021 [12 favorites]
- It does get easier, although there's pretty much always a little barrier of dread to overcome. Best not to think and just jump in.
- It doesn't get progressively colder. The first 20 seconds is the worst, then you body starts reacting and you don't get colder. Sometimes I almost feel like I can even will my body to generate warmth.
- It always feels great afterwards and that feeling can last a while.
- It feels like I have more focus and mental clarity after a cold shower. Sometimes I'll treat myself to a warm shower, and whilst that feels great, there's not that same feeling.
- I haven't had a cold since starting the cold showers. Yes, it's been over the Summer, but the past couple years, I've always had cold by this time.
Without wanting to be an evangelist, cold showers feel like the best thing I've done for my physical and mental health in a few years.
Still and all, cold water swimming feels like the same bridge to far from where I am now, that cold water showers did a year ago. But maybe one day... :)
posted by maupuia at 9:00 PM on April 16, 2021 [12 favorites]
I’ve taken up ocean swimming over the winter (and generally over the course of the pandemic), and if climate change and generally challenging winter tides hadn’t significantly worsened the conditions here in SoCal, I would have done it a lot more. I do experience it as a kind of ego death; something about the combination of weightlessness, the absence of landscape to focus on, the amniotic silence underwater, the shocking cold which settles into a feeling of sustained exhilaration. It’s almost impossible to hang on to any thought for long. I find it incredibly therapeutic.
posted by mykescipark at 10:23 PM on April 16, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by mykescipark at 10:23 PM on April 16, 2021 [7 favorites]
Yep, I started open water swimming due to COVID (PNW) and a longstanding interest and desperation to be outside. There's an excellent US Masters group that holds regular practices - surprised I find them motivating though I'm not fast or friends with anyone. It doesn't seem to matter, I'm happy to be out there watching fish swim and ducks paddle along at eye level.
posted by esoteric things at 10:59 PM on April 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
I've taken cold water showers for a long, long time. Water heater died, I turned off the faucet and have lived with it.
But. I'm in Austin. The water (guessing) is maybe 65-68 degrees, which is the same as swimming in Barton Springs.
One thing lots of people don't know about Texas is cold water swimming. Great fun to jump into the water and go go go and inside 15 seconds all is well.
When I vacation I keep things in line, shower in cold water. Chicago water -- and Chicago area water -- is really, really cold compared to ATX. Turn on cold water faucet, leave it run a minute and you've got condensation on the outside of the faucet.
Coldest water I've ever been in was just north of San Francisco. (Reyes Point?) I didn't stay in long; it actually hurt my seeds badly. Not just uncomfortable -- hurt. Jesus.
Netflix has that great flick "My Octopus Teacher" and the water that man swims in is even colder than I was in there north of SF. He talks about getting used to it.
I would *love* to do that, to train my body to love the cold.
posted by dancestoblue at 12:57 AM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
But. I'm in Austin. The water (guessing) is maybe 65-68 degrees, which is the same as swimming in Barton Springs.
One thing lots of people don't know about Texas is cold water swimming. Great fun to jump into the water and go go go and inside 15 seconds all is well.
When I vacation I keep things in line, shower in cold water. Chicago water -- and Chicago area water -- is really, really cold compared to ATX. Turn on cold water faucet, leave it run a minute and you've got condensation on the outside of the faucet.
Coldest water I've ever been in was just north of San Francisco. (Reyes Point?) I didn't stay in long; it actually hurt my seeds badly. Not just uncomfortable -- hurt. Jesus.
Netflix has that great flick "My Octopus Teacher" and the water that man swims in is even colder than I was in there north of SF. He talks about getting used to it.
I would *love* to do that, to train my body to love the cold.
posted by dancestoblue at 12:57 AM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
In the Puget Sound sites where I swim, generally it's 46 F for the winter and 57 F at its hottest in August.
The coldest skin swim I've done was 40 F water and 18 F air in Alaska. I think I made it about 20 minutes or half a mile. (I was also solo, but I had a friend watching on shore, and my friend had Opinions about how long I was allowed to swim in such cold, hah!) I'd like to go back sometime and do a full sanctioned ice mile.
posted by cnidaria at 1:04 AM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
The coldest skin swim I've done was 40 F water and 18 F air in Alaska. I think I made it about 20 minutes or half a mile. (I was also solo, but I had a friend watching on shore, and my friend had Opinions about how long I was allowed to swim in such cold, hah!) I'd like to go back sometime and do a full sanctioned ice mile.
posted by cnidaria at 1:04 AM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
Kind of interested that - from my own limited, uk perspective at least - wild / cold water swimmers tend to trend really heavily female?
posted by ominous_paws at 3:12 AM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by ominous_paws at 3:12 AM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
the summer camp I went to in central Wisconsin gave everyone the option to hang a sock on their bed if they wanted to be awakened at five in the dang morning to put on their probably-still-damp swimsuit & go jump in the frigid-ass lake at its coldest point of the day
kid me said yes to this somehow, every morning of camp? & it was a beautiful magical near-religious experience every time
prolonged opt-in discomfort that doesn't kill you can be super profound I guess, is my lazy takeaway here
posted by taquito sunrise at 4:05 AM on April 17, 2021 [9 favorites]
kid me said yes to this somehow, every morning of camp? & it was a beautiful magical near-religious experience every time
prolonged opt-in discomfort that doesn't kill you can be super profound I guess, is my lazy takeaway here
posted by taquito sunrise at 4:05 AM on April 17, 2021 [9 favorites]
Every time I hear someone evangelize about their cold water shower I ask them to measure their cold water temperature. Without fail it ends up being above 15C/65F.
My cold water temp is 5C/41F.
Now, there’s nothing stopping me from turning down the heat, but I think there’sa lack of inter-climate communication here.
posted by dmd at 4:52 AM on April 17, 2021 [9 favorites]
My cold water temp is 5C/41F.
Now, there’s nothing stopping me from turning down the heat, but I think there’sa lack of inter-climate communication here.
posted by dmd at 4:52 AM on April 17, 2021 [9 favorites]
I'm lucky enough to live within driving distance of the ocean, and for the past two years I've mostly jumped into the water once a week. I wouldn't call myself a cold water swimmer because during the winter months I usually end up just wading in up to my thighs before turning around and doing a rather undignified dive under the water before getting out. Maybe I'll manage a stroke or two, but I figure that's about the safest I can be while doing this alone.
Just dunking in the cold water and walking back to the car while dripping wet is enough to leave me feeling wired for the rest of the morning. I feel chilled but also energetic in a weird 100-cups-of-coffee kind of way.
After getting used to it, the water has never bothered me--even at 45F--but a couple months ago I made the mistake of going in while there was a strong, frigid wind and it so completely sapped the heat from me that I had to spend what seemed like an eternity in the car with the heater going full-bore before I could stop shivering enough to drive home.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:00 AM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
Just dunking in the cold water and walking back to the car while dripping wet is enough to leave me feeling wired for the rest of the morning. I feel chilled but also energetic in a weird 100-cups-of-coffee kind of way.
After getting used to it, the water has never bothered me--even at 45F--but a couple months ago I made the mistake of going in while there was a strong, frigid wind and it so completely sapped the heat from me that I had to spend what seemed like an eternity in the car with the heater going full-bore before I could stop shivering enough to drive home.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:00 AM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
Lovely essay, thank you!
The closest I've gotten to this experience is hoiking myself into Lake Superior in February after a sauna or a quick dip in the cold pool in a Korean bathhouse. Mostly, I like my water body temp or warmer, but I live a soft life.
posted by merriment at 7:24 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
The closest I've gotten to this experience is hoiking myself into Lake Superior in February after a sauna or a quick dip in the cold pool in a Korean bathhouse. Mostly, I like my water body temp or warmer, but I live a soft life.
posted by merriment at 7:24 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
The sea near where I am is only swimmable by very proficient swimmers at high tide, but there is a swimming lake at high tide level which replenishes around the spring tides (and has to be emptied and dredged twice a year), which is fantastic. With a 250m long sea wall, it's magical swimming along it facing west at sunset - over Cardiff across the bay if it's spring or autumn.
The trouble is that I only discovered it just before covid, and by far the most convenient way for me to get there is to go by bus, and that's a couple of hours each way. Not necessarily a huge deal, I enjoy reading on the bus, but still a bit of a time sink, but I'm still wary of too much of that until the pandemic's plausibly over. I can drive, but it means taking Zipcar, and I need to find one where it's easy to take the metal key out of the key and lock the car with that and swim with it in my shorts, and that all feels a bit scary the times I've done it.
But yes, I love it. Also, there's a weir on the 5 miles away which I should get to more often. I've not been to either since September.
posted by ambrosen at 8:04 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
The trouble is that I only discovered it just before covid, and by far the most convenient way for me to get there is to go by bus, and that's a couple of hours each way. Not necessarily a huge deal, I enjoy reading on the bus, but still a bit of a time sink, but I'm still wary of too much of that until the pandemic's plausibly over. I can drive, but it means taking Zipcar, and I need to find one where it's easy to take the metal key out of the key and lock the car with that and swim with it in my shorts, and that all feels a bit scary the times I've done it.
But yes, I love it. Also, there's a weir on the 5 miles away which I should get to more often. I've not been to either since September.
posted by ambrosen at 8:04 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Nope nope. I got mild hypothermia sailing in the Florida Keys when the water was 75F and the air was sunny and warm. Constant splashing + wind over several hours will eventually chill you out.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:15 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:15 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
I don't know if this works, but prior to the first winter when I started doing weekly ocean dunks, I got into the habit of falling asleep in an easy chair every night with my feet soaking in cold water. I think it helped to gradually ease into taking cold showers and took away a lot of the hesitation that came with going into the cold ocean.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:42 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:42 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Kind of interested that - from my own limited, uk perspective at least - wild / cold water swimmers tend to trend really heavily female?
Yes it seems that women are physiologically more tolerant to cold water swims.
Related: A great book - Swimming to Antarctica.., "Lynne Cox started swimming almost as soon as she could walk. By age sixteen, she had broken all records for swimming the English Channel. Her daring eventually led her to the Bering Strait, where she swam five miles in thirty-eight-degree water in just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. In between those accomplishments, she became the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, narrowly escaped a shark attack off the Cape of Good Hope, and was cheered across the twenty-mile Cook Strait of New Zealand by dolphins. She even swam a mile in the Antarctic.
Lynne writes the same way she swims, with indefatigable spirit and joy, and shares the beauty of her time in the water with a poet's eye for detail. She has accomplished yet another feat--writing a new classic of sports memoir."
posted by storybored at 10:17 AM on April 17, 2021 [3 favorites]
Yes it seems that women are physiologically more tolerant to cold water swims.
Related: A great book - Swimming to Antarctica.., "Lynne Cox started swimming almost as soon as she could walk. By age sixteen, she had broken all records for swimming the English Channel. Her daring eventually led her to the Bering Strait, where she swam five miles in thirty-eight-degree water in just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. In between those accomplishments, she became the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, narrowly escaped a shark attack off the Cape of Good Hope, and was cheered across the twenty-mile Cook Strait of New Zealand by dolphins. She even swam a mile in the Antarctic.
Lynne writes the same way she swims, with indefatigable spirit and joy, and shares the beauty of her time in the water with a poet's eye for detail. She has accomplished yet another feat--writing a new classic of sports memoir."
posted by storybored at 10:17 AM on April 17, 2021 [3 favorites]
My wife is a cold-water swimmer. She goes to Tooting Lido, the largest freshwater swimming pool in the country, which is open-air and unheated. This morning it was 7 degrees Celsius (44 f). Then she comes home and gets back into bed with me, where I am trying to have a lie-in.
posted by Hogshead at 10:44 AM on April 17, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Hogshead at 10:44 AM on April 17, 2021 [4 favorites]
Sea swimming in cold water (I live on the north-east UK coast - the average temperature at the warmest time of the year is 15.5 C/60 F, and for six months of the year it's below 10/50 so it's not like there's a choice) is one of the most joyous things I've ever done. I'm buzzing all day. A bad back has kept me out of the water for months, and I can't wait to get back in - planning on a couple of weeks time.
And ominous_paws, my experience is that the demographic is the same with the swimmers around here too. Which is nice.
posted by reynir at 12:17 PM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
And ominous_paws, my experience is that the demographic is the same with the swimmers around here too. Which is nice.
posted by reynir at 12:17 PM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
Kind of interested that - from my own limited, uk perspective at least - wild / cold water swimmers tend to trend really heavily female?
Probably the same reason that mostly women survived the Donner party; more natural fat reserves for insulation.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:30 PM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Probably the same reason that mostly women survived the Donner party; more natural fat reserves for insulation.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:30 PM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Bonnie Tsui's Why We Swim explores wild swimmers around the globe.
Free excerpts on her site . Or dive right in to the book.
posted by Jesse the K at 7:40 PM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Free excerpts on her site . Or dive right in to the book.
posted by Jesse the K at 7:40 PM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Lovely read. I got into ocean swimming 4 years ago and completed my second 5km event this morning. This essay gave me a lot to think about while I was out there.
I can’t speak to the cold water aspect of it, the water off Sydney stays comparatively warm year round and we are generally much more concerned about the dangers posed by the swell and the currents and the wildlife. I did come into it from a place of fairly complicated grief and trauma, not only alienated from but deeply furious with my body. There really is something about being out there, under my own power, far from shore and eye level with the water that helped bring me back to myself.
It’s one of the fastest growing sports over here. The casual groups I swim with tend to skew older and female, the organised semi-competitive events skew slightly the other way.
One thing the article didn’t touch on is just how privileged you have to be to take part, at least in Australia. Living within easy access of the coast or other large body of clean water does not come cheap. There is also a fair bit of cultural and economic baggage to unpack about who gets to grow up being taught or encouraged to swim.
Great article and it’s given me an extra push to continue over the winter this year. Thank you.
posted by arha at 9:02 PM on April 17, 2021 [3 favorites]
I can’t speak to the cold water aspect of it, the water off Sydney stays comparatively warm year round and we are generally much more concerned about the dangers posed by the swell and the currents and the wildlife. I did come into it from a place of fairly complicated grief and trauma, not only alienated from but deeply furious with my body. There really is something about being out there, under my own power, far from shore and eye level with the water that helped bring me back to myself.
It’s one of the fastest growing sports over here. The casual groups I swim with tend to skew older and female, the organised semi-competitive events skew slightly the other way.
One thing the article didn’t touch on is just how privileged you have to be to take part, at least in Australia. Living within easy access of the coast or other large body of clean water does not come cheap. There is also a fair bit of cultural and economic baggage to unpack about who gets to grow up being taught or encouraged to swim.
Great article and it’s given me an extra push to continue over the winter this year. Thank you.
posted by arha at 9:02 PM on April 17, 2021 [3 favorites]
Darkstar, it is not too late for you to register to swim in beautiful Tempe Town Lake. (There used to be a group that ran open water events in other AZ lakes but they don't seem to be active anymore)
posted by eckeric at 9:44 AM on April 19, 2021
posted by eckeric at 9:44 AM on April 19, 2021
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