I guess first of all I should quantify what I mean by cold water swimming. To some swimming in open water of 16 degrees can be cold, but for me cold water swimming involves Winter Swimming or Ice Swimming, which means the water is 5 degrees C or under with no wetsuit.
When you live in the UK and if you want to swim year round then why stop swimming in the outdoors during the winter? I lived and worked in London for two years whilst I was working on the 2012 Olympics and was a member of the Serpentine Swimming Club (Hyde Park, London) during this time. The club has been going for over 100 years and every single day someone has been swimming without a wetsuit year round. The mixed changing room is a hut next to the lake and during the winter hot teas are made for those who have been for a dip or swim in water.
There is a huge social aspect of winter swimming, the friendships you build up during those cold, dark mornings as you walk outside in the rain or snow to plunge into 3 degree water is wonderful. Then there is the feeling of wellbeing you get once you come out of a cold swim, although those experienced in cold water don’t hang around to chat, you must be disciplined enough to get warm clothes on straight away to allow your body to gradually…
, Colin Hill, talks us through the reasons and benefits of cold water swimming!){kind=link}