The swimming habits of women who cold water swim.

Abstract

Background: Cold water swimming is growing in popularity, especially amongst women. We have previously reported that women felt that cold water swimming helps with their menstrual and menopause symptoms. But little is known about the habits of women who cold water swim. Objectives: To determine the habits of women who cold water swim Design: This was a mixed methods study. Methods: An online survey asked women who cold water swim about their experience of swimming and how this affected their menstrual and menopause symptoms. The survey was advertised for 2 months on social media, with a focus on advertising in cold water swimming Facebook groups. In this paper, only the questions on the women’s swimming habits were analysed. Results: The analysis of 1114 women, mainly from the UK, revealed that most had been swimming for 1-5 years (79.5%). Most swim in the sea (64.4%) and only 15.5% swim alone. The majority (89.0%) swim all year around, swimming for mainly 30-60 mins in the summer and 5-15 minutes in the winter. The women mostly swim wearing swimming costumes (skins) throughout the year. The majority of the free text responses showed women found mental and physical benefits from cold water swimming. Conclusion: It was not surprising to learn that women swim for longer in the summer than the winter, but hearing how they feel cold water swimming helps their physical and mental health is important. With the limitations on access and safety of many wild swimming sites in the UK, it is time to ensure that cold water swimming is safer and more supported.