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Wild Swimming as Therapy

I still remember a snippet of wisdom from a book by veteran travel writer Dervla Murphy. She said that she never regretted going for a swim but often regretted not doing so. And she is exactly right.

I have swum in rivers on days when I am in a foul mood, or in a great hurry. Unlacing my shoes and preparing to swim I have cursed myself as an idiot: the water will be cold, I’mll get mud between my toes, I don’t have a towel to dry myself, I don’t have time for this. And without fail I have emerged from the water a new man, bouncing and invigorated by the cold, my mind recharged and refreshed and caring not a hoot that my hair is wet and I am five minutes behind schedule.

I have stood on beaches and looked out at cold, brown, uninviting oceans and tried to justify my wimpish excuses for not taking the plunge. And I have learned over time that it is always worth the first bracing shock and that even the briefest of swims (I define a swim as completely submerging yourself) will probably be the highlight of my day.

But I am writing this piece today not just as a therapy piece. I’mm not here to argue my case for outdoor swimming being the simplest antidote I know to impending depression, stress, or taking yourself too seriously. Today I am thinking about wild swimming on your travels.

I try to swim on every single trip I go on, whether that’s an overnight work trip to Scarborough (I slept on the beach in preference to the hotel laid on for me, and I dashed starkers into a pre-dawn autumnal North Sea), a long expedition in the high Arctic (jumping through a hole in the ice into the Arctic Ocean), or -less masochistically- swimming out into Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan at sunset to really appreciate the beautiful view. My point is this: travel is about experiences, hoovering them up, storing memories and lessons that will help you be a fuller, better, wiser person.

And I promise you that taking the plunge, swimming in a river that looks too cold, or a lake lit only by moonlight will definitely be a memorable part of any trip.

Do you agree? Where have been your most memorable swims?
Or am I totally wrong? Let me know in the comments section – I’mll be back to defend myself!

This piece originally appeared in Wanderlust.

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Comments

  1. Agree 100% mate. Swimming, whether freshwater or in the ocean has a special magic which is so powerful. In Wales on the weekend I took a dip in a mountain-top lake and a crystal clear rocky creek. Uber cold but impossible too pass up.

    Most memorable? The middle of a 10-50km wide Amazon River every day for 100 days. With dolphins, sharks and snakes for company it never got old!

    Reply
  2. Ruben Posted

    Unfortunately I haven’t been swimming since I was about 8 and don’t have anything like the confidence I would need to try swimming in wild water . Need to fix that!

    Reply
  3. I just took a swim in Linlithgow Loch on Sunday – without having any swimwear or clothes to change or a towel, also turned out that the Loch is not really suitable for swimming (too shallow and lots of algae), but it was SO worth it!

    Reply
  4. SPOT ON!

    After shurking a childhood fear of wildwater, or even just the deep lurking unknowns of a dark swiming pool. I now can’t get enough of it!

    Whilst the UK has many beautiful swimming spots, I moved to Stockholm last year, and this is a nation of wild swimmers! Outdoor dips are no longer a thing of trips, but I try urge myself down to the water as a daily occurance. Needless to say, it sadly doesn’t always happen.

    Reply
  5. dexey Posted

    Your definition of “a swim as completely submerging yourself” is a bath! :0)

    Most memorable swim was going for my hundred yards certificate at 11 and managing to grind out a quarter of a mile. Boy was I pleased with myself! That was 50 years ago.
    At Easter 2003 the tender I was in sunk in a lough just North of Dublin and I thought I wasn’t going to make it out of the very cold water. My life jacket was in the bottom of my bag. I’ll not make that mistake again!

    Reply
  6. Will rudkin Posted

    Today me and my friends biked ten miles to an unknown quarry, it’s a bit of a myth around my area, after the long hilly ride we reached the razor wired fence which clearly said no admittance, deciding to live on the edge, we went in. There was a massive cliff into a dark pool of water. Without thinking we jumped. Adrenaline kicked in and I have never scared myself as much in my life. I am so happy that we did it and was well worth the ride and the telling off from the park rangers when we got caught! One of my friends did not dare, and just like you have wrote, he regretted it all the way home! Live on the edge! Thanks. X

    Reply
    • Bohus Posted

      In my opinion jumping into dark pool from the cliff without checking the water first is just hazard with your life, not an adventure … how would you feel If your friend hit the rock and killed himself ? still full of adrenaline ? … on the other side If knowing that there isn’t any rock in there, I would do the same and jumped 🙂

      Reply
  7. Alex Posted

    I’ve not done much wild swimming yet, but am always looking for opportunities. I had a swim in the Cam earlier this month, with weed and nervous of someone stealing my clothes, but it was worth it as I got dressed, it started raining and I knew I hadn’t passed up the chance.

    Reply
  8. Bohus Posted

    the most memorable definitely @ midnight after long day walk in one of the Icelandic geothermal spa 🙂 magic

    Reply
  9. During a bike tour last year I spent some time working at a farm on the Turkish coast. After a good day’s wine making (and an extended tasting session) we made the decision to go for a midnight dip. Liberated from our clothes we took the leap of faith, off the jetty, and into the Mediterranean six feet below. The instant refreshment and awakening was quite one thing – to resurface and be “swimming in the stars” was quite another. It was first experience of swimming in bio-luminescent plankton, and something I will never forget. Wild swimming rocks!

    On a side note: I came across this blog while on the above bike trip and instantly became a regular reader. I told myself that once I had a job, and stopped being quite so tight, I would donate. Well, now I have a job, and so have a “coffee” on me.

    Great work Alastair. Keep on keeping on.

    Reply
  10. misterbaz Posted

    It’s not something I do very often and even then I’m following someone else’s lead. But I’m glad I took a late afternoon dip some years ago in a pond somewhere in Chimanimani national park. I really hadn’t expected it to be ice cold, but now it’s one of the things I remember about that trip. And I regret not plunging into a lochan on Knoydart while walking from Lake Hourn to Inverie – on a hot day I wimped out.

    Reply
  11. Our wetroom needs re-grouting so can’t use the shower… so currently swimming in the river out the back every morning and loving it. Most definitely relate to the refreshed attitude after a dip – no matter your mood before it! A friend and I are trying to ‘bag’ all the lakes in Snowdonia. Bit of fun really http://sarzmountainrun.blogspot.com/search/label/wild%20swim

    Reply
    • Brilliant! I had to have a month of showers under the hose pipe last year. Actually, that’s a lie. It was 3 days compulsory but I decided to extend it voluntarily…

      Reply
  12. Raph Taylor Posted

    Lots of nice swims, from post-sauna swims in the Finnish Baltic; tarns in the lake district; Cretan summer sea swims; windy Marlborough sound swims.
    Most memorable firstly was last week’s swims in Cornwall as it was the most recent, but the one that sticks in mind was off North Berwick in February about 10 years ago; properly cold (though certainly not by your standards!), and without towels.
    This swim introduced me to my favourite sensation of all time, which is the feeling of the warmth returning to the outer parts of my body. I try to achieve a bit of this with each shower – turning cold half way through – but this doesn’t do the same, and I relish each ‘next swim’ for this sensation.

    Reply
  13. Absolutely agree 100%. We’ve been swimming throughout the winter – the highlight being a very cold 9km down the River Dee. I don’t think we are quite as masochistic to lower ourselves into water through ice the thickness that is in your picture.
    There is something very special about cold water in wild places though. Thankfully, there are plenty of wild places that we explore in North Wales.

    Reply
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