Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Wild Swimming

48 replies

MinxyMew · 15/07/2026 23:31

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

OP posts:
Original poster
MinxyMew · 17/07/2026 05:26

tokennamechange · 16/07/2026 23:07

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?

Show quote history

Like I said, I wouldn't know... I mean, is it really that wrong that I'm asking about something I have no clue about?

OP posts:
Original poster
MinxyMew · 17/07/2026 05:28

AitkenDrum1970 · 16/07/2026 20:12

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

Don't ask me, but apparently that's what it's called now, lol

OP posts:
Original poster
MinxyMew · 17/07/2026 05:32

Octavia64 · 16/07/2026 20:18

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.

Thank you so much for your reply... it really sounds intriguing. I'm going to have to do some more digging on this

OP posts:
Original poster
MinxyMew · 17/07/2026 05:35

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 16/07/2026 22:24

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.

Thank you, another one that I appreciate an answer from. Does your partner swim too?

OP posts:
Natsku · 17/07/2026 05:51

I'm in Finland where everyone swims in lakes, rivers and the sea if coastal. There's no limits, can easily spend hours swimming in the lake in summer, and jumping in is positively encouraged here rather than the massive no no it seems to be in the UK. Swimming spots will have little wooden jetties to jump off and in more popular ones there will be multilevel diving platforms and we teach our children to jump in as soon as they can swim.

In winter you're guided by your body. The record for sitting in an avanto (hole in the ice for winter swimming) is over an hour, held by a middle aged woman. Coldest I've swum in is 1 degree (was spring and the ice was melting so I was essentially swimming in ice water) and I rather stupidly swam out quite far as it felt wonderful but then lost feeling in my arms and legs as they got so cold, but I stayed calm and managed to swim back to the ladder.

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 17/07/2026 11:41

@MinxyMew he swims when it's above 18 degrees but he doesn't enjoy it when it's lower, so no.

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 17/07/2026 11:57

@Natsku I swim with a club as well as at random times, and the vast majority of swimmers are muddle aged women! :)

That 1 degree swim sounds a bit scary - how long did it take you to really warm through after, and be safe to drive?

The one time I did an ice mile it took a long time to recover. Not something ill do again.

Natsku · 17/07/2026 12:32

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 17/07/2026 11:57

@Natsku I swim with a club as well as at random times, and the vast majority of swimmers are muddle aged women! :)

That 1 degree swim sounds a bit scary - how long did it take you to really warm through after, and be safe to drive?

The one time I did an ice mile it took a long time to recover. Not something ill do again.

I went back in the sauna afterwards so was nice and warm very quickly.
I could not do an ice mile, I'm not a distance swimmer!

EBearhug · 17/07/2026 12:53

I have a friend who does ice swimming, and has competed in the world championships. The water has to be 5°C or below. I am not keen if it's less than 12°.

Octavia64 · 17/07/2026 12:57

Yeah most of the times I have swum at 4 or 5 degrees I got straight into a sauna or hot tub straight afterwards so no issues warming up!

Wofflewaffle · 17/07/2026 13:01

My DH tends to say ‘allowed’ when what he means is ‘recommended’ or ‘guidelines’. He doesn’t mean there’s someone checking whether you’ve waited the requisite 30 minutes after eating before you swim, or checking that your hair’s dry before you go out in the cold 🙄. When I was pregnant he’d talk about me being ‘allowed’ to say in a hot bath for however long was recommended - not that the hot bath police would be standing outside the door timing me. Some people tend to talk about guidelines as if they were rules 🤷‍♀️.

unsync · 17/07/2026 13:22

Ice swimming is classed as under 5°C and the general rule there is one minute per degree of temperature. If you are acclimatised, you may be able to do longer. The big risk is hypothermia and/or afterdrop. Both are easy to avoid if you do a correct risk assessment.

I generally find that anything over 16° is swimmable for long periods, although I will put neoprene on if I intend to swim for a long time as I otherwise will get too cold. Anything above 20°, I'm OK to go skins.

Natsku · 17/07/2026 14:22

Think I'll go swim in the lake tomorrow, the water temperature is around 22 degrees, definitely no need to worry about how long I stay in!

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 17/07/2026 18:51

Oh my first winter swimming club had a sauna by it. Heaven!!! Just an hour's drive away :s

Natsku · 18/07/2026 12:09

Well our lake swimming was cut short by a thunderstorm - that's certainly a good sign to get out!

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 19/07/2026 21:45

Crikey yes! Hope it was good till that point though - how warm is the water?

Natsku · 20/07/2026 16:59

Its about 22 degrees, lovely. Well it was, before a weekend of constant heavy rain and cooler temps so probably a fair bit cooler now

WingingItSince1973 · 20/07/2026 18:04

I swim at our lakes twice a week and the session is an hour long each time. It has lifeguards and water regularly tested. I absolutely love it. I sort of part swim and part bob along 😁

WingingItSince1973 · 20/07/2026 18:05

Oh and it's about 22° in the lake this week.

RedFatball · 20/07/2026 18:10

I swim in a lake. It's 24deg in there at the moment and I was in for nearly 2 hours on Sunday. As we move towards winter I will wear a wetsuit and drastically reduce time in the water as it gets down toward 2-4deg

BillieWiper · 20/07/2026 18:14

Who could stop you? That makes absolutely no sense. One can either swim somewhere or they can't.

What would be the purpose of disallowing it for more than 15 minutes?

And what are the consequences of you stay in for longer? Arrest? Mutilation by loch Ness monster?

ReleaseTheDucksOfWar · 21/07/2026 18:38

Gosh, imagine Nessie with a stopwatch and a gleam in her eye, sharpening her teeth as she watches legs frogkick over her...

Original poster
MinxyMew · 21/07/2026 20:40

Thanks everyone for your replies, I really appreciate it

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page