Over the past year in lockdown people have taken up their fair share of activities – from baking and walking to jigsaws and meditating – the list is endless. Each to their own and all that, however, our Co-founder and Director Kevin Wyness has taken his new hobby to quite the extreme…
Kevin has taken the plunge – literally – and has started cold water swimming. Some people might call this utter madness: Getting up early to swim in the freezing North Sea? You can imagine that most responses are a bold “No thank you”!
As intense as it sounds, the popularity of cold-water swimming has been on the rise in the past few years with the most recent lockdown seeing a surge in people making time for a ‘morning dip’ – and by dip we mean dip! This isn’t swimming 1500 meters, we are talking about submerging for 3-4 minutes in the ice cold water.
A few minutes may sound easy but imagine doing this in winter the months of December or January. The water in Aberdeen Harbour was on some days plummeting to air temperature of –2 degrees with added wind chill could make it feel like –7 degrees (if you tried staying in that for 60 minutes you would most certainly lose consciousness). So, if you are willing to give it a go, you need to start short and build your resistance up. Before you know it, you will be doing five minutes in the North Sea no bother!
But why is Kev doing this we hear you ask? Well, regular extreme cold-water exposure is believed to bring the following health and wellbeing benefits:
- Increased metabolism
- Better Circulation
- Reduced daily stress
- Greater quality sleep
- Immune system boost
UK Dementia Research Institute’s Centre at the University of Cambridge have also shown that individuals who are regularly exposed to cold water swimming have a protein in their blood which can delay the onset of dementia.
Our cold-water swimming resident expert, Kevin says:
“Plunging into the water on an early morning is brilliant, it truly awakens the senses and sets you up for the day. At first, I was a little hesitant and it was a shock to the system as I acclimatised to the water, however I have been feeling the benefits and there is something special about connecting with nature. I now look forward to my swims – it certainly invigorates and has boosted my mental health.”
For anyone who is interested in giving cold water swimming a go, please do not go alone and more importantly do your research. Whilst the benefits are enticing, it’s vital to be aware of the risks involved before you leap in. The advantages of cold water swimming are only gained if you are doing it safely.
Happy dipping!
