Relaxing balmy seas, a chillier dip and getting too cold in an Arctic swim... all in a week!

Since I started cold-water sea swimming this winter, weather forecasts have taken on a whole new significance.  I study them with great interest, looking for good days for swimming i.e. sunny!  Having swum in all conditions and temperatures this winter, surprising myself each time, I have become almost relaxed about the cold or gusty winds.  In fact, my swimming has more recently become slightly ordinary without the extreme feeling of chill afterwards.  I wasn't sure if this was due to the incredible adaptation that my body has undergone while being plunged into the cold sea regularly?  Or whether the sea might actually have warmed up a little by now?  This week's dramatic weather variation might have just solved this puzzle...

While everyone was enjoying the heat-wave last week and finally meeting friends outdoors in small groups, I had to share my sea-swim with others.  Paddle-boarders were confidently out wearing shorts and T-shirts on their precarious boards as if it were summer.  I also noticed some "normal" swimmers shivering and wanted to tell them that the sea is only 9℃ and that is still cold if you are not used to it.  Of course I left them all to it, donned my neoprene swimming costume without even bothering with a hat and got swimming.  It felt chilly but with a hint of warmth at the very top of the water which gets heated by the sun.  The best part was being able to sit on the groyne afterwards in the dazzling sunshine and warm up without needing to dash back to the house.  This felt like an easy, relaxing swim which maybe I should just enjoy without feeling slightly disappointed that it wasn't a "proper" cold swim.

By Easter Sunday, the heat-wave was long gone with cold temperatures and bitter winds returning.  Walkers along the beach were wrapped up in layers and not lingering for long.  The waves were white-tipped, spectacular to watch as they crashed onto the beach.  I waited until the wind had dropped a little and headed out with enthusiasm.  I have become expert at navigating the swell of waves, especially as I swim so close to the shoreline.  I swam a few strokes then waited while I glided up and down on a large wave, then continued.  I constantly watched the waves rolling into shore, ready to ease back and glide.  It felt invigorating and wild.  As I dried off on the beach and changed into my warm layers, I could feel my skin tingling and alive.  I never thought I would enjoy a cold-swim more than a relaxing warm dip, but perhaps now I do?  My body has obviously adapted to some extent, as I no longer shiver after a swim nor do my fingers and toes hurt.  Maybe I have grown a layer of brown fat which is helping me to endure the cold, like a happy duck in the icy pond?

I shared this insight enthusiastically with my dedicated cold-water swimmer neighbour, who responded with the same level of excitement that I have found the joy of the cold (finally).  So yesterday morning I was all set for another chilly swim, this time with night temperatures of -2℃ meaning a colder sea.  Maybe this will be the best of the week I wondered?  I wore my short wet-suit with hat, gloves and socks just I have done on all cold swims.  As I slowly entered the water and started to swim, I found I could only swim very slowly.  It took me by surprise as I hadn't experienced this for months.  The sea was also choppy, so I was probably in for longer than normal.  My thermometer registered 4.5℃ which I quickly realised was back in the ice-swimming range.  

By the time I reached my towel on the beach with Arctic winds battering my cold skin, I didn't feel so good.  My muscles felt weak and slow and taking my wet-suit took all my effort.  My brain was alert, as I talked myself through each step trying to reassure myself that I will soon warm up.  I got back to the house, made a hot drink and noticed that I was actually shivering (a good sign).  I wrapped up in more warm layers and blankets and sat by the heater with gluten-free biscuits, praying that I would feel better in a while.  After about half an hour, I was starting to feeling okay again.  But my recent feeling of excitement about cold water had been slightly dampened.  

Later, I re-read articles about the effects of the cold on the body and found that what I started to experience was just "cold-incapacitation" where the muscles start to lose power and work more slowly.  I have felt this before during my snow-swims, but the difference was this time I wasn't expecting it so I swam for a little longer.  The Arctic winds yesterday were even colder than the sea, meaning that my normal warming-up routine on the beach with snuggly clothes was still freezing.  No wonder this swim had the greatest cold impact of any so far, which gave me a bit of a shock.

The sheer power of the sea with the extreme winds and cold was brought home yesterday.  I may have a little layer of brown fat plus good neoprene kit, but I am still of course vulnerable to the strength of the ocean.  I now know that you can get ice-swimming temperatures (below 5 ℃) even in April! While it feels adventurous to swim in the sea in extreme cold temperatures, it always needs to be respected.  I am now adopting a new approach which is to appreciate being in the sea whether warm or cold rather than judging that one is better than the other.  This is more of a spiritual lesson that I keep coming back to, my human tendency to want to plan, predict and judge things, even the sea conditions!  Instead, I could approach the sea from a place of curiosity, noticing the waves and wind and appreciating that each day will be different.  And remembering that the whole point of my swim is to take some time out, to connect with nature and to feel a moment of freedom away from any thought of a pandemic.  It is not to become "ice-woman" going in colder and colder conditions to show how super-human I am!

"Life asks us to be strong enough to engage with each moment with integrity, while being soft enough to flow with the current of life." (Deborah Adele)

Comments

  1. Sue WalkerApril 9, 2021 at 8:44 AM

    K wrote “Love your stories ! Thank you Sue 🙏🏽😘”

    Thanks for reading lots of them and your comment!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 10, 2021 at 1:53 PM

    I always enjoy reading about your cold swimming! It is inspiring! Don't stay in quite so long when it's Arctic temperatures! x

    ReplyDelete

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