Re your article on cold water swimming (Cold water immersion therapy: do the benefits outweigh the risks?, 30 September), I swam in the men’s pond on Hampstead Heath for 10 years all year round. And, whatever opinions physicians and others pronounce, I think the benefits of daily immersion to mental and physical health are irrefutable.
The fact is, I felt better, my circulation improved and the experience itself – sometimes almost an out-of-body one – was wonderful. Moreover, swimming when there was a thin sheet of ice on the water produced a lovely sizzling sound as the thin ice sheet waved and nearly buckled. I stayed in the water for up to 20 minutes and it thrilled me bodily as well as testing me psychologically, for it is, no doubt, a mental challenge.
Of course “plunging into icy water” is stupid – most of the accidents at our pond happened on a sudden glorious sunny spring day when people imagined that a dip would be a good idea, foolishly unaware that although the day was warm, the water was not. It was still winter chilly.
The trick was acclimatisation – becoming inured to the gradual drop of temperature as autumn moved into winter. You could gauge the real change when the cold shower after the swim felt warm by contrast.
Enjoy the cold water, I say, but approach with caution, and prepare your body for the change in how the water feels.
Graeme Fife
Sevenoaks, Kent
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