How to get into a cold pool and start swimming

When faced with the task of getting into a cold pool in order to swim, there are a number of strategies you can employ.

The most logical way of entering a cold pool is to simply enter into the pool naturally and begin swimming, with the understanding that the initial discomfort will not physically harm you and will, because your body begins exerting energy, turn into a kind of pleasant, refreshing feeling. In the case of the cold pool, comfort requires effort, for without the effort of swimming the cold pool would never be enjoyable. That being said, even being consciously aware that you’re about to go swimming and that a cold pool is inarguably better for swimming doesn’t resolve the situation entirely. There is still the matter of having a body that does not like cold water. Because of this, when you encounter the water you will feel an unconscious mechanism that causes you to wince and your legs to slow with hesitance, but if you hold on to the right understanding, knowing that soon the temperature will be a perfect complement to your body’s kinetic energy, if you can really hold onto that thought, you can hopefully ignore your body’s warnings and move into the pool without too much hassle.

“Mind over matter.” “Willpower.” That’s the most logical strategy. However, not many people have this kind of mental fortitude and clear, logical control of their behavior. They experience a resistance to the temperature strong enough to prevent them from going in. In other words, they buckle.

How this cowardice manifests is often interesting. They feel the unconscious discomfort of their body almost instantly, and it manifests into psychological aversion, which of course leads to a decision: “There’s no way I’m getting in that pool!" However, because it is just a pool of water, most people feel stupid for not getting in, so they get get defensive, or laugh about it, or call other people “crazy.” They may simply tap the water with their toe and moan with discomfort. Others will simply stay away entirely, keeping to their chair by the pool, shaking their heads.

Well. What about those who are determined to swim?

There are a number of strategies, as I said, for breaking through fear and aversion and getting in, and they can be classified in two camps: gradual exposure strategies and forcing functions.

Gradual exposure strategies

One method of getting into a cold pool is by slowly wading in, starting with your feet, until you’ve reached a point where you are in the water enough to fully submerge. For me, a male, the most difficult point along the way is when my legs are in the water but I have yet to put my crouch in. That point, standing half cold, not wanting the most sensitive area of my body to touch what I already know is a cold, merciless body of water — that point is a fucking moment of reckoning. Either I face my fear now, right now, and put my crouch in the water, or I retreat to the beach chair for good. This is a microcosm of the entire dilemma, but presumably, it is easier to accomplish.

Almost always, the method of entering the pool in this manner is through the feet, first, and then the torso, arms, shoulders, until finally the head and hair. Some swimmers try to prevent their head from getting wet by “doggy paddling” around with their hair neat and their face dry, but this is a futile exercise. Eventually your head will get wet. If it does not, you have skirted the rules; you’re the type of person who likes to do 95% of a job, because you’ve avoided submitting entirely to the task at hand. It’s a form of pride or rebellion.

Another method, less commonly used, is to pour water collected from the pool on different parts of your body in order to acclimate it to the cold. This to me seems the most masochistic, because you are not actually progressing into the pool and yet you’re willfully subjecting yourself to that which you fear most.

Forcing functions

There is an entire other class of strategies called forcing functions which allow for an immediate resolution of the dilemma. They are preferred by many due to the speed of their resolution. They can be in turns terrifying and exhilarating, which means that they are both more suddenly uncomfortable and more fun than the gradual exposure strategies. These strategies are given more respect than the gradual exposure strategies, since they involve more initial courage and a considerable amount of fanfare.

The simplest forcing function is to jump into the pool. Gravity forces your entire body in, and the desire to not die forces you to swim. You immediately reach your goal. Many people require “psyching themselves up” for such a jump, getting themselves to focus on the exhilarating parts of the jump. Others try clearing their mind or repeating some kind of mantra or imagining how they’re going to jump (basically, meditation techniques).

If you want to use a forcing function but you are unable to force it upon yourself, you may enlist a friend. Your friend will push you into the pool. Your friends can also push you in without your consent; this is especially interesting when you’ve consented with a second-order desire without expressly consenting while the act is occuring. No matter how it happens, the result is the same. Somehow you fell in, and now you’re in the pool.

There are more creative options. Getting in a raft and falling off, for example. Using a diving board or a slide. Letting a giant wave hit you if you’re at the beach. Get creative, why not.

The problem with warm water

There are many strategies for getting in a cold pool. There are zero strategies for getting into a warm pool. Warm pools are great. They’re inviting. They’re fun. No strategies are needed.

But if you swim with vigor in a warm pool, you become tired rather quickly. You get uncomfortably warm. You traded early comfort for a worse experience swimming.

I think by now you’ve noticed that the experience of getting in a pool works quite elegantly as a metaphor. When you start a company, you get in the cold pool. When you talk to a stranger, cold pool. When you go to the gym, when you make a decision, when you stand up for what you think. Cold pool, cold pool, cold pool. These are all uncomfortable things to do, but

We live better lives when we do “cold pool” activities. “Cold pool” stuff gets you more money, a better career, more adventure in your life, more romance, more respect, better physical health and mental health, more variety, and a deeper ability to contribute to the world.

“Warm pool” activities: well, we know what those are and what they give us. We know Netflix is a warm pool, and booze and chocolate and everything else that is immediately pleasant and not at all initially frightening.

Warm pools are everywhere. They can swallow your weekend whole. And sometimes that’s good. We need immediate comfort. But it’s extremely important that “warm pool” stuff doesn’t make up our entire lives; otherwise, when we want to go for a swim, we start regretting it. Ironically, it starts getting really, really uncomfortable.

If I’m being motivational…

I want to leave you with one more point.

It doesn’t matter which strategy you use for getting into a cold pool. What matters is: you’re in. You’re swimming.