Wild Swimming

[MinxyMew]

I was reading earlier about somebody that was new to wild swimming and their first time in, they did forty five minutes at the beach... so assume the sea?

I live in Wales, and of course the nurses, carers that come out to you tend to chat to their patients.

One of my Mother's carers was a wild swimmer and she said that you were only allowed to do fifteen minutes a day?

Maybe different rules for different for different waters? E.g. Rivers, Canals, The Sea, etc.

I wouldn't have a clue, but I'm really intrigued now, and would love to delve deeper.

Ironically, I babysat her kids when I was I teen

Why would you only be able to swim for 15 minutes? You can swim for as long as you want although it might not be for very long in the winter.

Like I said, different rules for different types of waters? She did wild river swimming

Currently, the sea is as warm as it's ever been round Britain, warmer than our s hool outdoor pool ever was. It is normally much colder, and then it is wise to restrict your time in the water, to avoid the risk of hypothermia, especially if you're not acclimatised to it. If you're not used to cold (even if you are,) your limbs can seize up, and the shock of cold water means you might gasp and swallow or breathe in water. It's why there have been quite a few drowning in open water recently.

Rivers will generally be colder than the sea, but a lot will depend on the nature of the river - a slow-moving, sunny river will be warmer than something tumbling out of caves at speed. Deep pools can be really cold, unexpectedly so, too.

Allowed? By whom?

If you're talking winter swimming, below ten degrees or so, you need to build up slowly because of something called the afterdrop.
Your surface blood vessels contract and the blood moves more slowly and becomes chilled. When you get out and dry off and change and your outer body warms, that colder blood works its way into your core, and you can risk hypothermia. You can feel fine while swimming, then it will hit you 10 mins or so after. So you play it safe, build up slowly. The afterdrop is very real.
But that's winter swimming. I really wouldn't stay in 15 minutes the first time if it's below 10 degrees.

If it's outdoor swimming and you're not forbidden from being in the river / sea in the first place, I can't imagine any other sort of time limit.

Why would there be different rules for different bodies of water? Who would make those rules and enforce them?

I swim outdoors, and there are no rules or time limits unless you go somewhere privately owned where you have to pay.

Thank you so much for your answer, very helpful

I don't know, I never had the conversation. My Mother and one of her home cares at the time mentioned it.

You mention nurses and carers. Presumably some people have medical issues that mean they are advised that they shouldn’t stay in the water for too long.

In general there aren’t any rules. Apart from
anything else who would be checking?! What is sensible obviously depends on a number of factors, but mainly how cold the water is!

A friend of mine did a wild swimming course earlier this year, which was led and supervised by a lifeguard. The first day they were only allowed to stay in for 4 minutes - but they were in Scotland and it was at the beginning of May.

I was in Devon at the same time, and the water was cold but I was able to stay in the sea for about 15-20 minutes. Last month I could (and did) stay in for half an hour or so. By now the sea will have warmed up even more and 45 minutes wouldn’t be at all unreasonable.

I don't friggin' know, that's why I'm asking

It was the carer that was looking after my Mother that was the wild one

It's to do with the water temperature. You really need to watch the clock in winter time. It also depends on what you are wearing (wetsuit, neoprene socks, or not). And how used to it you are.

Middle of summer, it's not such an issue.

Unless you belong to a club, there aren’t any rules. Obviously swimming in any body of water (not including swimming pools) without a companion is ill advised, as even the strongest swimmers can find themselves in difficulty occasionally. There is no time limit. But in the winter without a wetsuit I reckon 15 mins is probably long enough for most people! Although the sea is generally warmer than rivers / lakes. But you stay in for as long or as short as you want.

Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it

Maybe she did belong to a club then? That was another reason I thought of.

Thanks for answering

In terms of safety if the water is cold (which isn’t isn’t at the moment, my swimming lake is like a bath) using the clock isn’t a great method. People talk about the one minute per degree rule, but everyone reacts different at the same the temperatures, and even the same person could feel different on different days. One person could be fine in just a costume for 15 minutes in the same conditions someone else in a wetsuit is going into cold water shock. I’ve never heard of a fifteen minute rule though and I’m on an open water swimming facebook group and swim at a popular place where almost everyone is there for more than 15 minutes (not the sea though).

Isn’t it to do with thermal shock? My dd is a wild swimmer and I am always irrationally worried about her!

Thank you. I really appreciate your reply

It’s just swimming - outdoors. Mankind has done this forever - when did it become ‘wild’? !!

I'm sorry if I made you more worried. But I'm pretty sure your daughter is sensible and knows what she's doing

Wouldn't be wild swimming in a fucking canal.

I do wild swimming, all through the year and usually in rivers or lakes rather than the sea.

lots of organisations run courses these days on how to do it/introduction to it.

at the moment the rivers and lakes in southern England where I am are running about 22 degrees. Most people can stay in that temperature of water pretty much indefinitely - my group met up last night and we did a mile in an hour fifteen.

there’s also various long distance organised swims at this time of year that can be done either with wetsuit (some people swim with a wetsuit all year round) or with skins (just a swimsuit).

For example chill swim Windermere is on the 5th Sept and that’s the full length of Windermere (11 miles)

https://chillswim.com/chillswim-windermere-end-to-end/?amp=1

one of my friends is also training for a channel swim in skins which is very popular with swimmers who do long distances

https://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/

in the autumn and the winter some people move to wetsuits (and wetsuits are a bit like clothes - if you have a good one say 5mm you can swim or surf pretty much indefinitely even at winter sea temperatures)

the coldest I personally have been in is 4 degrees in a river, same in a lake and 5 degrees in the sea. Those people who like me swim skins in the winter - while there are “rules of thumb” about how long to stay in the number one rule is listen to your body and get out before you chill too much.

the more you do swimming in cold water the more your body gets used to it and the more you can do.

It’s because these days if you say swimming people assume a pool.

personally I tend to say outdoor swimming

There’s two sorts of shock a wild swimmer needs to be worried about.

the first is cold water shock. That’s when on getting in, your body registers that you are in cold water and it can be difficult to keep your breathing steady because your body thinks this is dangerous.

cold water shock can be avoided by getting in slowly (eg at a beach going out slowly), and it’s much less likely to happen if you are a regular wild swimmer (your body knows it is your weekly swim).

if you are in wetsuit and neoprene shoes and gloves and hat your are very unlikely to get cold water shock at all.

if the water is warm enough you are also less likely to get it.

if you do swim in cold waters then your body closes up capillaries to keep heat in your core and your body will keep doing that for about 30 mins after you get out (unless you get straight into a sauna).

this can give “afterdrop” where you get very cold after the swim. Many swimmers will carry a flask of hot water and a hot water bottle plus lots of layers to get into as soon as they get out of the cold water.

it’s also another reason not to swim alone.

Yes, I push it when swimming in very cold water but never alone. My partner times me and if I'm slowing down in how fast I'm going from one end of the lake to the other, he calls me out.

Conscious steady breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth helps with cold water shock, just steady easy breathing, however tempting it is to gasp.

Most outdoor swimming is fine above 16 or 18 degrees though. Atm the lake's around 25 and it's like swimming in soup.

you don't have to "know" to have an inkling that something is bollocks, it's called common sense!

What do you think the word "allowed" means? Did you honestly think there was some sort of wild swimming law and law enforcement agency?