Swim for better health? 💙

Published: Tue, 02/04/25

Updated: Tue, 02/04/25

Dear Swimmer

Nothing compares to swimming outdoors for better mental health. Being immersed in cold water, nature, and connected, inclusive communities does wonders for our wellbeing—and it’s the main reason our readers tell us that they swim outdoors.

Like so many of us, I started swimming outdoors for physical fitness, but it was the mental health benefits that have kept me dipping all year-around for the past nine years. Back in October 2018, I first researched and wrote this article about why it's so good for us.

If you have a print or digital subscription, you can read every issue of Outdoor Swimmer since April 2017. We've selected a couple of goodies about some of the ways immersing in cold water is our magic cure.

Rowan Clarke,

Features Writer

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Print and digital subscribers also get access to our webinars - like this one with Dr. Mark Harper from 2022.

You may know Mark as a swimmer and cold-water expert. He's been an advisor for the Outdoor Swimming Society and a Director at Mental Health Swims. He's also a consultant anaesthetist at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals - and he's developed an interest in the negative effects of getting cold during surgical operations and the positive effects of cold-water swimming.

You can watch his chat with Ella now and read his interview in the October 2022 Health Issue.

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CHUNKY DUNKERS

Swimming for better mental health isn't new. Fourteen years ago, Martin Strain, started swimming for his mental health in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland - a place with a rich history in marathon swimming.

In the October 2024 issue, Elaine explores the history of this iconic place - and how Martin and his wife Kathryn accidentally founded a brilliant, social support ground Chunky Dunkers.

"It's true that some of the best open water swimmers in the world have breezed through Donaghadee, but many of them feel they are the lucky ones to meet Martin, Kathryn and their small army of locals who want nothing more than to ensure you're enjoying the water as much as they are."

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A bit like those swimmers in Donaghadee, we want you to enjoy the water as much as we do! And our subscriptions are designed to do just that - whoever you are, however you swim.

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