No Wetsuit Required!
Friday 9th November 2018 saw me head off on a road trip to The Lakes for a Cold Water Swimming Workshop with those fab folks from Swim the Lakes, what else would I do on a November Saturday? I arrived in Ambleside and checked into the YHA and then the rain started to fall and the wind started to blow. A quick walk to the Wateredge Inn for a warming bowl of chilli and a glass of wine set me up for the next day.
After a good night’s sleep I peeped out the window to see a much calmer day; dry and bright-ish and a lot less wind, phew! I was greeted by the lovely Pete Kelly who I’ve known for a few years now and then spotted the equally lovely Tors and had a quick chat about the 24 miles in 24 hours swim as she is also doing it. Pete also introduced me to Kat who will most likely be my support for Two Way Windermere in September 2019.
So Pete started the day with a real life ice-breaker and “invited” us to join him in Windermere. With quite an audience from those sat lakeside enjoying a coffee before their day’s adventure began, to those watching from the windows in the YHA the group slowly entered the water. Oh boy that water hit places I wasn’t ready for. We stayed in for about 5 minutes before getting back into our dry robes and towels and scurrying back indoors.
Time for the science bit and Pete took us through all you need to know about getting in the cold water; some really great learning about how to acclimatise and the benefits, how long to stay in the water, signs of when to get out of the water and how to warm up afterwards.
It was then time to get back in the water for a swim, Pete told us we would be in the water for 15 - 20 minutes. Again, that water was so cold and called for much heads up breast-stroke. Once I’d got my breath back it was time to freeze my face off and get on with some front crawl….it felt amazing and so exhilarating. On exiting the water our Wim Hof instructor; Emma Corrie, encouraged us to resist our dry robes in favour of the Wim Hof Horse Stance to manage our shivers and warm our bodies - it was one of those wow moments when all of a sudden it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to be standing lakeside in my Deakin and Blue cossie in a low squat swaying like a tree!
Our first Wim Hof breathing session was really enlightening and I can honestly say you have to experience it to believe it but what I will say is the third swim of the day was a very different experience; from the ease of entry into the water through to the less time needed to warm up afterwards; it was actually joyful.
After a warming drink and some ginger cake around a fire pit we finished the day with a second Wim Hof session with Emma which has certainly made me want to find out more. I’ve added Becoming the Iceman to my reading list and will carry on with my two minute cold showers and now my aim is to swim skins once a month through the winter! As always I met some other lovely, crazy people on the day and look forward to meeting them in the water again sometime soon.
Come join me over on Instagram @lakes_lidos_lanes for all things swimming.
