Dear fellow swimmers
How to celebrate winter
This week I have been back to Estonia exploring, swimming, meeting other swimmers and being shown amazing things the country has to offer. It is my second time in the small, yet beautiful country and while you will read a lot more about this trip our April issue, I thought I'd share some reflections.
Like many countries in the Baltics, Estonia has long white nights in summer, where the days are endlessly connected and in winter the days are short, dark and cold. A few days before I arrived temperatures were around -18ºc and I was worried my warm kit wouldn't be up to the chill. However, by the time I arrived the weather had warmed and the lowest temperature I experienced was about -8ºc. There was still a lot of snow on
the ground with frozen lakes, bogs and parts of the sea. It was magical.
Despite the cold and the challenging conditions, Estonians were out in the landscape and enjoying themselves regardless. I noticed while here in the UK we seem to endure winter, in Estonia it is a celebration. They get outside regardless and the seek the light in many ways. There
are lanterns, candles, lamps and string lights when it gets dark. While we wait for spring, they embrace the season they are in.
It reminded me why I started winter swimming in the first place. In the early 2000s I rarely swam outside past October. My swimming season from May to October was packed with events, swim adventures, meeting friends on the
riverbank and spontaneous dips, but as the last leaves fell I would retreat indoors and find myself plunging into my sofa more than stepping outside the door. It was lonely and frankly, miserable.
Don't hide from the season
When I decided to swim through my first winter, the
dominant incentive was to embrace the season rather than hide away from it. It was transformational, because not only was I getting outside and moving my body, but I met up with my swimming friends regularly and made new ones too. I started to notice nature in a new way, seeing the beginnings of spring in the darkest days of December and appreciating even the dreariest of what winter in the UK had to offer. While I still look forward to spring, it is my favourite time to swim outside, I now
appreciate all the seasons and no longer just tolerate the darker months.
So, yes, today is the first day of March and later this month the clocks will spring forward, but let's stop willing spring to arrive and embrace whatever is outdoors today, plunging in regardless.
