escaping
100 CalmMoment.comLooking back, I think I had been existing in a low-
level state of postnatal depression since my daughter
was born. Almost losing my life started to shake me out
of it. I stumbled across a website for the Great North
Swim (greatrun.org/great-swim) in Lake Windermere
and signed up on a whim. At first, I trained in my local
pool but then found a quarry with the crystalline blue
water you usually only see in the Med. I swam there
every Sunday for months and it brought me back to life.
After a while the cold water didn’t bother me. It was
a welcome bite as I got in, that quickly eased. Some
days it even felt too warm. The following June, almost
a year to the day after I nearly died, I swam my mile in
Windermere. By then I was already hooked.
Since then, I have had a kind of rebirth in cold water.
I have swum many official outdoor events of increasing
length and among all these big swims have been other
escapades. Wild swimming has taken me from rocky
hidden coves in Dorset, down river rapids in France,
and into the azure waters of Bermuda, where I learned
to freedive. Never able to do things by halves, I’ve also
trained as a swim coach, helping other swimmers to
overcome their fear of open water. If I’m feeling low,
I know a swim will usually fix it. It has been all the
adventure I was missing and more.
Many wild swimmers believe that their hobby helps
their mental state, and beyond the anecdotal evidence
there does seem to be a scientific basis to their claim.It’s not just that the act of swimming releases
endorphins, serotonin and dopamine, the same as any
exercise. The fact you are in cold water can help you
to experience life’s stresses and strains in a more
measured way. And for anyone experiencing anxiety
or depression that can be extremely helpful.
Cold water needs to be treated with respect.
Exposure to any water below 25°C ( 77 °F) puts a stress
on the body, becoming most extreme in temperatures
of 10-15°C (50-60°F) and below. As you submerge, your
instinct is to gasp and hyperventilate, thanks to the
triggering of the fight or flight response. You may feel
panicky and your heart rate and blood pressure will
increase. But this perfectly natural reaction will ease
after two or three minutes as your skin cools to the
same temperature as the water. Carefully repeat this
exposure and eventually you should experience this
stress less and less. What’s quite magical is that
diminishing this adrenaline-fuelled reaction creates
a kind of cross-adaptation, making it easier for you
to cope in stressful situations in your day to day life.
Recently, I was invited to swim with Katia Vastiau
of #TeamSelkie, a group of water lovers picked to
represent the Selkie brand, which makes sporting
and leisure wear aimed at open water swimmers.
Like many wild swimmers, Katia lives to be outdoors.
A keen photographer, when she’s not swimming in
her local river in Oxfordshire, she volunteers at
a swimming lake or reviews outdoor kit.
Katia takes me to one of her favourite spots at Clifton
Hampden in Oxfordshire for a social swim. It’s been
a while since I’ve done a longish swim and we head
upstream to start with, which is more challenging than
I care to admit. An old shoulder injury is niggling me,
but I stuff it all down and head for a bridge, maybe 100
metres away. The water is murky but also impressively
warm after weeks of sun, and I start to loosen up.
Katia was a club swimmer as a teenager and got
involved with her local Queenford Lakes after she
decided to give open water swimming a try. From
there, wild swimming wasn’t a great leap.Rosee’s first event swim
was the Great North Swim,
here at beautiful Lake
Windermere in Cumbria.
“I swam there every
Sunday for months and it
brought me back to life”