Watch: Swimmer dipping daily to help the homeless
With indoor pools and gyms closed for long periods during lockdowns, an increasing number of people are turning to cold water or wild swimming to keep fit and relax amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Switching the comforts of a warm pool for a chilly pond, lake, reservoir, cold-water lido or the sea, might not be everyone’s dream dip scenario, but recent figures from Sport England suggest more than 4.1million people are regularly donning their bathing suits to go open-water swimming.
Other research from Daffodil Hotel reveals wild swimming has seen a huge 287% increase in popularity since March 2020.
A quick scroll of the hashtags #coldwaterswimming and #wildswimming finds social media awash with images of capped-headed and wetsuit clad swimmers of all ages, waxing lyrical about the virtues of taking a dip in chilly waters.
One Essex town has experienced such an increase in popularity of the bracing pastime that a Facebook page for those wanting to swim in Leigh-on-Sea reached almost 650 members within two months.
Swimmers say that working from home has given people more time to enjoy simple things, and that taking a plunge in the sea allows them to take a step away from the stress of life in uncertain times.
Jenny Bier, 45, is co-founder of the Leigh-on-Sea branch of the Bluetits, an informal swimming movement started in…
