Winter swimming have become increasingly popular, and the number of clubs that bring together fans of cold water is so large that it’s impossible to keep track of them all. During weekends, almost every beach turns into a kingdom of winter swimming. Of course, you don’t have to belong to any club in order to feel the cold waves on your body, but it’s advisable to have someone experienced guide you during your first few times.
To become a winter swimmer, you don’t need any special qualifications, or you don’t have to meet any specific requirements. Of course, a visit to a doctor is recommended, just to be on the safe side. The greatest challenge that stands before any novice is to enter quickly and confidently into the water. Later, as winter swimmers claim, is where all the fun starts. However, you have to remember to properly prepare, as reckless behaviour may result in health loss.
How to prepare?
Besides rules and regulations that apply on any beach, winter swimming has its own rules we need to adhere to.
A warm-up is required before entering water. The most popular ways of warming up used by winter swimmers are running and stretching. The exercise should last approximately 15-20 minutes. It’s not about getting tired, but getting warmed up without breaking a sweat. Warming up should be done in light clothes, preferably tracksuit. Directly after the warm-up, you should take off your clothes and confidently enter water. Such a bath should last no longer than 3 to 5 minutes. This time period can get longer with more experience. After getting out of water, you can wipe up immediately, but this means one more warm-up upon another bath.
What are the benefits of winter swimming?
Cold baths work miracles on our bodies and minds. Other than being proud of fighting our own weaknesses, many health benefits have been proven to come from this. Winter swimming improves vascular capacity, increases blood supply, and condition of skin. Hardening our organism decreases risk of infections and colds.
We have to remember though that, as with everything, moderation and cool head are important. This is why we recommend contacting one of many winter swimmers’ clubs in our region. Experienced club members will always have a piece of advice, and will inform about group meetings, where under watchful eyes of seasoned winter swimmers, we can take our first steps into the cold waters of the Baltic Sea.
Winter Swimmers’ Clubs:
Most of the clubs can be found in social media, some of them have their own websites:
Kościerski Klubu Morsów Forrest Gump
