How to face the challenge of swimming in cold water

For humans, aquatic environments have always been a space for self-improvement and health.

Serve as an example when Lewis Gordon Puhg swam in Mount Everest claiming the care of nature.

And also, when the water temperature drops, it becomes a great challenge.

Bonnie Tsui writes in her book

that swimming is also a mental exercise, and in the case of doing it in cold waters it is also an exercise in bravery and courage;

is to have what the Finns call “sisu”.

Bathing in cold water causes a response in our body that can become a painful experience.

For those who travel to the Nordic countries and want to have this experience, it is common to be advised to breathe slowly when they get into cold water.

Regular winter swimming is assumed to significantly decrease stress, fatigue, and negative mood, increase performance in vigorous activities, and reduce pain in people with rheumatism, fibromyalgia, or asthma.

However, we must be aware that swimming and immersion in cold water must be carefully analyzed,

More information:

How to use the cold to recover after exercising

Not everyone is like Guðlaugur Friðþórsson, known as “the seal man”, who was able to survive the sinking of his fishing boat, swimming more than 6 kilometers to the coast, for 5 or 6 hours, in waters of 5 °C, guided only by the light of a lighthouse.

Afterwards, he had to walk barefoot three kilometers over frozen volcanic rock, until he reached a house and was taken to the hospital, where he did not present symptoms of hypothermia, only dehydration.

His survival story was the subject of a movie in 2012

His feat has been commemorated since 1985 in the Guðlaugssundið (Guðlaugur swim), where the 6 kilometers he covered are swum, but in the Westman pool.

Guðlaugur is literally a seal man, a

, since he had a layer of 14 millimeters of fat that insulated him from the cold, a thickness much greater than any person usually presents.

The International Ice Swimming Association and the International Winter Swimming Association differentiate between swimming in icy (-2°C to +2°C), frozen (2.1°C to 5°C) and cold ( from 5.1°C to 9°C).

Guðlaugur was able to swim in freezing water conditions.

But what does it mean to swim in those conditions?

Analyzing the scientific literature, the cold water bath has a long tradition for its supposed benefits.

It is a challenge for the organism.

This will always try to maintain the temperature of the brain and the main organs of the body, and to achieve this it has to regulate body temperature through vasoconstriction that reduces heat loss and heat distribution through warm blood circulation to the outer layers of the body. the skin.

It also increases metabolic expenditure to produce heat through thermogenesis processes, shivering to try to lose as little heat as possible.

The subcutaneous adipose tissue acts as an insulator, hence the importance of the thickness of the fat layer, the thorax region being the most relevant in heat loss (accumulates 50% of the body's subcutaneous fat).

Less than a third of the fat accumulates in the muscles of the extremities and 3% in the hands and feet.

What needs to be clear is that the response to cold water immersion is very individual, and there can be great variations between people.

Let us remember that at an older age there is a greater deficit in the thermoregulation process, which can produce a greater loss of heat and cause hypothermia.

It is the population that lives in arctic regions that presents a better adaptive response to exposure to cold.

In the world swimming championships in frozen water they know it well and in their tests, especially the 1,000 meter test, considered one of the most dangerous, the lifeguards and divers are very aware of any problems that may arise and each participant has their own vigilant.

Bathing in cold water causes two responses in the body.

On the one hand, a response to the

of cold representing reflexes produced by signals from cutaneous thermoreceptors that produce increased sinus bradycardia, increased respiratory gasping, and uncontrollable hyperventilation, as well as peripheral vasoconstriction and hypertension.

On the other hand, the response to diving or immersion that occurs when getting wet cools the face and nostrils while maintaining breathing, which produces a decrease in heart rate, peripheral vasoconstriction, inhibition of respiratory neurons, and redirection of blood to vital organs, as well as the release of red blood cells stored in the spleen.

Both responses are opposite, which sometimes contributes to a higher incidence of arrhythmias in healthy subjects when immersed in cold water.

Without the opposing response, the

Cold

People who regularly swim in cold water report that their mood improves, their level of tension and feelings of fatigue decrease.

In patients with chronic diseases such as rheumatism, asthma or fibromyalgia, cold water baths relieved pain.

Therefore, cold water has its health benefits.

Cold water cures were already recommended in 1851 in the

for chronic diseases.

The use of hydrotherapy has been used as a natural method of improving bodily functions such as local metabolic function, nerve conduction speed, muscle spasms or for its anesthetic effect, so it is an option to consider, despite not being able to be a general option for all people.

There are also negative health effects, the most serious being hypothermia, even once out of the water after the end of the activity.

It is without a doubt the biggest threat that has an exposure to very cold water.

There is also the possibility of an initial neurogenic response after exposure to cold, and if swimming, a decrease in swimming proficiency that could lead to drowning.

The experience and challenge of cold water, whether it's taking a shower in the morning, getting into a bathtub after training, swimming in the pool, lake or ocean, can be very beneficial and even fun.

Nor should we forget that it is very variable for people depending on the temperature of the water, the conditions in which it is carried out, the places where it is carried out, and the intentions that are pursued.

If you have decided to include cold water in your life, perhaps the most important advice is to do so after having previously consulted your doctor, adopting the necessary security measures, and if necessary in certain circumstances, protecting yourself against the cold with different materials (suit, hat, gloves), which will make the experience of swimming in cold water possible and satisfying.

Surely consulting with a specialist in this type of activity is also a good decision.

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