More people than ever are taking to rivers and lakes, but experts are increasingly advising caution before an outdoor dip
If you happen to know an outdoor or wild swimmer – and you’re reading the Observer, so let’s face it, you almost certainly do – they may well have been especially euphoric last week. The recent cold snap has seen water temperatures in the sea, in lakes and rivers and in lidos drop a couple of degrees, into what many wild swimmers think is the sweet spot of the mid-teens Celsius. Bracing enough to get the buzz but not too cold to leave you chilled to the bone afterwards.
“Have you heard of the Pareto principle?” asks Dr Mark Harper, an anaesthetist, researcher and author of Chill: the Cold Water Swim Cure. “It’s where 20% of the effort produces 80% of the results. So we’re in that beautiful time now where, if the temperature is between 15 and 20C, you’re probably getting 80% of the benefits of the cold water for just 20% of the effort.”
