“IT’S like urgent Management-Alt-Delete on a pc,” says Cath Pendleton. “After I’m within the water, I’m so targeted on my physique, my mind switches off. It’s simply me and the swim.”

Pendleton, an ice swimmer primarily based in Merthyr Tydfil, UK, is hardier than most. In 2020, 5 years after discovering she didn’t thoughts swimming in very chilly water, she turned the primary particular person to swim a mile contained in the Antarctic circle. A part of her coaching concerned sitting in a freezer in her shed.

She is much from alone in her enthusiasm for chilly water, nonetheless. Because of media stories of the psychological well being advantages of a cold dip and pool closures as a consequence of covid-19, hovering numbers at the moment are taking to rivers, lakes and the ocean – as soon as the preserves of a handful of significantly powerful year-round swimmers. An estimated 7.5 million folks swim open air within the UK alone, with an growing quantity swimming by way of the winter. International figures are arduous to come back by, however the Worldwide Winter Swimming Affiliation has seen a growth in registered winter swimmers world wide, even in China, Russia and Finland, the place water temperatures can drop under 0°C.

However is there something extra to it than the enjoyment of being in nature, mixed with the perverse euphoria of defying the chilly? In line with the most recent analysis, the reply is perhaps. Current research have begun to show up proof that cold-water immersion could alleviate stress and despair and assist deal with autoimmune issues.…