Why wild swimming is Britain’s new craze

But fun is not the only reason people are taking up the hobby. It seems that swimming and being outdoors is not just beneficial for your physical health, but it may also be beneficial for your mental wellbeing. A study published in British Medical Journal Case Reports provided the first case report that cold water swimming may be an effective treatment for depression. The theory behind this is that one form of stress – ie the shock of cold water – adapts the body for another, in this case the stress response associated with depression and anxiety.

While more evidence is needed to support the hypothesis, some people have formed their own swimming groups based on their own experiences. In summer 2020, Chris Reeves founded Win the Morning, Win the Day, a group that organises morning walks on the beach followed by a swim in the sea, all the while breaking the stigma surrounding mental health by talking openly about it. The group started in the town of Gosport and has seen sister groups spring up around the UK, in cities including Leeds and Manchester, and even abroad, in Bahrain.

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Rachel Ashe, founder and director of Mental Health Swims, who has mental health conditions stemming from childhood trauma, came upon the benefits of cold-water swimming by chance. On a whim, she joined a New Year’s Day dip near her home, on Portobello Beach near Edinburgh. “I ran into the sea with 100 others and afterwards felt this incredible calm I hadn’t felt in years,” she told me. “It was a life-changing moment. I now know that the calm I was feeling was my natural pain killers kicking in because getting into cold water is incredibly stressful for your body.”

Inspired to share her experience, Ashe invited others to join her at the first Mental Health Swims meet-up at Caswell Bay in September 2019. As mental health challenges surged during the pandemic, so too did interest in the group. “We started the pandemic with one swim and now have more than 80 swim meet-ups across the UK and beyond,” said Ashe.

However, while outdoor swimming may help your physical and mental health, Ashe warns that it should not see seen as a cure-all: “I think the idea that cold water is the miracle cure for mental illness is a dangerous narrative and another way to make stigmatised people feel like they’re not doing enough.” And, she added, the outdoor swimming movement has a way to go before it reaches everyone who could benefit from its effects. “I believe we should empower everyone – people of all skin colours, ages, genders, sexualities, backgrounds and abilities – to find solace in the outdoors.”