Cold showers and cold-water swimming, the benefits in terms of physical and mental health - what do we know?

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ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Slightly off topic, but when was swimming re-branded as the awesomely cool "wild swimming"?
When present day swimmers remembered that they could swim outdoors rather than just in heated indoor pools!? :whistle:

I remember using the unheated Abbey Fields Lido in Kenilworth as a child. Hmm, I just checked to see if it is still there... it IS, but it is temporarily closed because of the pandemic. There is also a heated indoor pool for wimps now!
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
When present day swimmers remembered that they could swim outdoors rather than just in heated indoor pools!? :whistle:

I remember using the unheated Abbey Fields Lido in Kenilworth as a child. Hmm, I just checked to see if it is still there... it IS, but it is temporarily closed because of the pandemic. There is also a heated indoor pool for wimps now!
I learned to swim in an outdoor pool that was a diverted part of the River Itchen. There was a fair amount of weed swirling around beneath your body. Was I a "wild swimmer"?
 

screenman

Legendary Member
When present day swimmers remembered that they could swim outdoors rather than just in heated indoor pools!? :whistle:

I remember using the unheated Abbey Fields Lido in Kenilworth as a child. Hmm, I just checked to see if it is still there... it IS, but it is temporarily closed because of the pandemic. There is also a heated indoor pool for wimps now!


Might be like that around your way but the Thames and The Serpentine have been swam in daily for years. Like many things it has always been there just with more people becoming aware of the benefits is has become more popular.
 

screenman

Legendary Member
I learned to swim in an outdoor pool that was a diverted part of the River Itchen. There was a fair amount of weed swirling around beneath your body. Was I a "wild swimmer"?

I learned to swim in the River Crane and the Thames, I took up windsurfing in December 1978 and sailed 12 months of the year for a very long time.
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
I learned to swim in the River Crane and the Thames, I took up windsurfing in December 1978 and sailed 12 months of the year for a very long time.
There's a club that swims in the Thames on the stretch between Hammersmith and Chiswick bridges. It looks a lot of fun but not as good a narrower, more rural river like the Avon in Wiltshire.
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
When present day swimmers remembered that they could swim outdoors rather than just in heated indoor pools!? :whistle:

I remember using the unheated Abbey Fields Lido in Kenilworth as a child. Hmm, I just checked to see if it is still there... it IS, but it is temporarily closed because of the pandemic. There is also a heated indoor pool for wimps now!

It was earmarked for closure a long time ago and is unlikely to reopen - although these guys are trying https://www.restorekenilworthlido.org.uk/
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
It was earmarked for closure a long time ago and is unlikely to reopen - although these guys are trying https://www.restorekenilworthlido.org.uk/
Oh, well good luck to them... It appears that they want to heat it though! :whistle:

Lido Campaign said:
This campaign wholeheartedly supports the refurbishment of the indoor pool, but just imagine alongside it, a 25m heated outdoor pool, open all year round with special events for sports enthusiasts and families, a training site for triathletes and a venue for unique cultural events.
 

screenman

Legendary Member
Oh, well good luck to them... It appears that they want to heat it though! :whistle:


Well seeing as most cyclist are fair weather one's I suppose it is fair to suggest most swimmers would be the same. If it gets more people swimming I cannot help thinking it is a good idea, as the overall benefits of it are better than cycling for the body.
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
I did it in my yoof. But near to 70 arthritic and not having swum in a heated pool for 20+ years, unwanted recurrent ear infections, I'd not do it now.
I gave up summer cycling in shorts some 10 yrs ago following an inflamed knee joint after a cool, damp day ride. My hand seize up if I wash them in cold water too.
The news article that set this thread off mentioned scientists are looking for a way to replicate the effect without having to endure the cause, so fingers crossed on that one.
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
I live in one of those new-fangled buildings with hot running wated so don't need to have a cold shower.

What form of self-torture will become trendy next - beating yourself with an ash stick, sackcloth and ashes as new trendy-wear, re-stuffing your sofa with holly leaves, wrapping barbed wire around the steering wheel of your car or being forced to drink Tennent's lager?
 
I live in one of those new-fangled buildings with hot running wated so don't need to have a cold shower.

What form of self-torture will become trendy next - beating yourself with an ash stick, sackcloth and ashes as new trendy-wear, re-stuffing your sofa with holly leaves, wrapping barbed wire around the steering wheel of your car or being forced to drink Tennent's lager?
Selling one's car? No, that's ridiculous, no-one would ruin their own lives like that willingly ...
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Well seeing as most cyclist are fair weather one's I suppose it is fair to suggest most swimmers would be the same. If it gets more people swimming I cannot help thinking it is a good idea, as the overall benefits of it are better than cycling for the body.
I was thinking back to when I used to swim 3 times a week in a heated indoor pool. There would always be people standing at the side, dipping their toes in the water, but afraid to go in because they thought the water was too cold. I used to just dive in and immediately start swimming up and down. Within 5 lengths I would be at a good working temperature. I could never understand what their problem was! :wacko:
 
OP
OP
Fab Foodie

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
I was thinking back to when I used to swim 3 times a week in a heated indoor pool. There would always be people standing at the side, dipping their toes in the water, but afraid to go in because they thought the water was too cold. I used to just dive in and immediately start swimming up and down. Within 5 lengths I would be at a good working temperature. I could never understand what their problem was! :wacko:
Maybe they were Southerners....
 
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