Kate Rew and the OSS team answer the questions new winter swimmers most commonly ask

DISCLAIMER: Own every decision you make: risks of entering very cold water include heart attack, asthma attack, panic attacks, cold incapacitation, cold shock, drowning, hypothermia and death. With the freedom to swim outdoors comes the responsibility to do it safely. The OSS is a peer-to-peer community that shares experience between individuals, but neither The OSS nor any of our agents are responsible for swimmers’ decisions or the accuracy of any information given. Understand more on the risks including high blood pressure  and cold incapacitation. 

1. What does it feel like?

Do not let images of smiling girls in bobble hats and bikinis and fashionable chat about ‘the cold water cure’ deceive you: winter swimming is, as Lewis Pugh puts it, ‘a violent physical assault’ on the body. With its immediate effect on blood pressure it is literally not for the fainthearted. 

Cold water will punch the air out of your lungs, it will bite your hands and feet off. After a minute or two I generally have the sensation of a giant lobster clamped to my buttocks. 

It’s no secret that aerobic exercise can help stave off some of the ravages of aging. But a growing body of research suggests that swimming might provide a unique boost to brain health.

Regular swimming has been shown to improve memory, cognitive function, immune response and mood. Swimming may also help repair damage from stress and forge new neural connections in the brain.

Zwemmen in ijskoud water is een koud kunstje voor Roel Janssen. De eerstejaarsstudent Werktuigbouwkunde in Den Bosch won vorig weekend twee bronzen medailles op het WK ijszwemmen in Polen. Wat is ijszwemmen en hoe kijkt hij terug op die week? “Ik had als doel om met minimaal een medaille thuis te komen.”

Trenja Mulder is geïnterviewd naar aanleiding van haar ervaringen in zee. Trenja is lid van RTC (Triathlons) en Plons (zwemmen). Ze geeft ook zwemles bij DES (organisatie van de IJsselmeerzwemmarathon).

De (voorlopige) kalender van onze zuiderburen is bekend. Zie ook de bijlage.