Now’s the perfect time to take up cold water wild swimming. Here’s how.

Whether you want to “join the movement” or just do your own thing, there are only a few things you need to know to take outdoor swimming to the limits.

You’ve read about the benefits of cold water wild swimming for mind and body.

You’ve swum in an outdoor pool and maybe at the beach on a hot day. Where does just plain swimming become something you need to read about?

As the saying goes — slowly at first, and then all at once. One minute you’re paddling in the refreshing shallows on a sunny day, and before you know it you’re out of your depth, peeping out of a hole in the ice at the aurora borealis. At least, that’s how it was for me.

Almost everyone can enjoy wild swimming. It needs no particular level of fitness, no fancy kit, no large investment of time. And it can change your life.

Here we’ll run through everything you need to know to start that journey, and start it safely.

Chances are you’ve already made a start. The seas off the west of Europe and North America, Southern Africa and South America are cold for much or all of the year. By cold, I mean below 65 farenheit or 18 celcius — which is cold enough to give you hyperthermia before too long. If you’ve ever swam at the beach in these parts of the world, even in summer, you’ve officially tried cold water swimming.

But if you want to reap the large physical and mental benefits, and like the idea of outdoor swimming as a regular, year-long part of your life, now’s the time to form your new habit.

I promise you — if you can do it now, and keep it up, it will keep getting easier all the way to November — and it won’t get that much harder from there, right through the winter.

Why start now

Because it’s so big, sea temperature lags the temperature of the land by a couple of months. The sea is warmest in August and September. Lakes and streams are also as warm as they get right now. If you start swimming at this time of year, your resistance to the cold will increase in step with the coming of winter.

We have a huge capacity to adapt to cold water. Our bodies react less extremely but more effectively to the encounter with the cold each time we dip. And our perception of cold adapts too: the water feels less cold. After six months of practice I could get into water just above freezing singing without any catch in my breath. This is a slow but steady process — and fortunately, so is the changing of the temperature of the sea.

The more often you swim the faster you will adapt, but research shows that the cold resistance we build up lasts a long time — some of it will still be there even a year after your last cold swim, and perhaps much longer. No effort is wasted.

What you need

• Basic swimming skills. As long as you know your limits you need no more than that.
• A reasonably clean body of water with an easy entry point where you can touch the bottom, and some local knowledge that it’s safe to swim in. Google the name of the swim location and odds on it will come up. Once you’ve got a hang of things in well-known spots, you can explore on your own.
• Swimming trunks or a costume — probably!
• A towel or robe
• Warm clothes

That’s it!

Good to have

• A swimming partner or group. A partner or group will make your start in swimming easier and safer.
• Neoprene socks and gloves. I don’t use them until November, but after that time they make it much easier to stay on longer in the water. If you have poor circulation to your extremities, you may find that socks and gloves increase your enjoyment all year round.
• A tow float. These will increase your visibility if you’re swimming out from the shore where there is water traffic, and also give you something to cling to should you swim too far and find your strength failing. You can also put your phone and keys inside if you feel nervous leaving them behind on the shore.
• In winter — a warm hat, and thermos, and perhaps a changing mat. I will say more about winter kit as the season comes round.

There are three principle dangers from cold water, all of which can be managed with understanding and care. In fact, once you’ve learned how to cope with them, you will be much safer from the dangers that accidental or misjudged immersion in cold water poses even to strong swimmers unused to the cold. Arguably all healthy people should learn to tolerate cold water, just as they are taught to swim, for their own safety.

The three danger of cold water

1. COLD SHOCK

Some degree of cold shock is very common and not in itself a concern as long as you are ready for it.

On entering water colder than you are used to, your pulse and breathing may become fast and you may feel a strong impulse to gasp. We’ve all felt this when the shower suddenly runs cold. This is no problem if it happens gradually and you are in water well within your depth.

If this happens when you are out of your depth however, drowning is a danger. If the transition to the cold is too sudden the strain on your heart could be a danger in itself. Blood may not reach your brain as normal which can impair your judgment and ability to take care of yourself.

Until you are a very experienced cold swimmer indeed, and maybe ever afterwards, ease gradually into the water breathing as slowly and steadily as you can, and don’t swim out of your depth immediately. The danger of shock will pass within a couple of minutes, and you will clearly feel your body rebalance itself.

2. PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT

Cold muscles and numb hands are less strong and more clumsy than warm ones. You may not be able to swim as far as you expect, and swimming may become harder as your body continues to cool. Stay close to the shore for several swims until you’ve learnt how the cold effects your stroke. In general, avoid mixing serious cold exposure with long swims across deep water.

3. AFTER DROP

This is the most surprising and tricky to control aspect of cold swimming, though the one that’s probably least likely to kill you. Believe it or not, after you leave cold water — any water that’s been cold enough to make you shiver — your core body temperature may continue to sink for forty minutes or more. It means that you may feel fine in the water, and positively glowing with warmth when you get out — and still find yourself struggling later.

Here’s why. When you go into cold water, your blood flows away from your skin and your extremities, where it will cool too fast. You can manage just fine with your outer layer of fat, your hands and feet and outer muscles sinking much closer to the temperature of the water than that magic 37 degrees. Scientists refer to this cold outer layer as ‘bark’. You will struggle with buttons, sure, but if water is warm enough to remain in a liquid state it won’t normally harm your numb extremities. Occasionally your body will relax the capillaries in your hand and feet and send in a pulse of warm blood to stop them dying, and then lock them off again.

But when you come back into the less conductive air, and your skin senses that the extreme cold risk has gone, blood floods back into your still-cold outer shell so that you can regain control or toes and finger, and feel things in your skin again. You need it to — I’ve cut myself climbing in and out over sharp rocks, my hands and feet numb and inept, and have noticed nothing until I saw the flowing blood.

Once you understand this process you can avoiding the danger of hyperthermia after leaving the water. First of all, develop a rigorous habit of leaving your towel somewhere you can grab it immediately. As you take off your clothes, arrange them so that you will be able to get them on easily even if you are shivering and not quite thinking straight. You will need to get your top half dressed and as warm as possible before you turn to dressing your legs. Forgetting to do this probably won’t kill you, but it will certainly make you curse your own inconsiderateness as you dress. Bring extra layers — a warm coat if you weren’t already wearing one, even in summer. Finally, get our before you reach the limits of your cold exposure. I usually get out as soon as I start to shiver persistently. Don’t be alarmed if it takes a long time — even hours — for you to feel completely warm again, just don’t expose yourself to further cold during this time. Be careful if you take a warm shower or bath as the sudden change in temperature can make you faint. Traditional sauna and cold water immersion practices focus on this change from hot to cold, and it can be very enjoyable indeed. Just take great care until you know your body’s reactions.

Dirty water, reservoir dams, power lines, anglers and currents pose the same dangers when cold swimming as with any water sport. Do rely on local knowledge until you are able to asses these for yourself. Though cryotherapy has been used to treat heart failure, if you have a heart condition proceed in consultation with your doctor.

As well as the many benefits to mind and body which science is just begining to demonstrate, cold water swimming can be one of the most enjoyable things you ever do. It can bring and edge of excitement and adventure to ordinary life. Long after the water no longer makes you gasp with cold, you’ll still be gasping at the new thrills and joys you’ve discovered.

And now you’re good to go.