Cold Body, Warm Heart

Greg's story

Greg Douglas, 40, grew up in Durban, South Africa, and turned to open water swimming after being diagnosed with anxiety and depression last year.

Greg said: “I caught covid right in the beginning and I was in bed for two weeks. I probably would have gone to hospital if it had happened later on, but they didn’t have blood oxygen monitors or anything.

“Then I got deep vein thrombosis as I was coming right and so that triggered anxiety and depression.” 

After being referred to a therapist he found solace in cold water. 

Greg said: “I started therapy and had to change my life and I started open water swimming as well as having cold showers.”

For him, being out in the water is a reminder of his childhood, as he grew up by the beach and swam regularly in the Indian Ocean.

Now he swims at Shepperton open water lake which offer supervised swimming throughout the winter.

Greg said: “I think it helps you to just reset and not think for a while.” 

“You’ve accomplished something which is amazing and then you think you can conquer other things in your day.”

From struggling with the demands of working from home during the pandemic and mental ill health, cold water provided much needed energy that was transferable to other areas of his life.

Torri's story

Torri North, 50, started cold water swimming three years ago after reading an article about the mental health benefits for those suffering with anxiety. 

After researching more, she discovered that cold water could be a means of regulating her anxiety.

“Once the symptoms have landed it’s got too overwhelming, whereas what I wanted to do was start training my brain and my body to recognise it from the cold-water shock,” she explains. 

She started swimming at The Quays, Camberley during the winter, then did an open water swimming course to learn about staying safe in cold water where she met a group of women including Peta (pictured) who she now swims with regularly.

Since then, swimming has transformed her life.

Torri described how it has helped her mental wellbeing as well as generating body positivity. 

She said: “I would never three years ago even have contemplated that I would have a freedom about my body that I do now.” 

When she started swimming, she was very nervous about wearing a swimming costume and revealing her body, but now she says she “doesn’t even register it.”

She takes part in wild swims, has set up a swimming group in Woking, and even organised a group skinny dip event.

She said that wild swimming had also changed her relationship with nature. 

She said: “It’s completely grounding. I feel so much more connected, and just the beauty of nature blows me over all the time.”  

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve just had an argument, or a relationship breakdown, or if you’ve woken up really anxious. You just get in, and you think, this is washing everything away.”

Speedo Mick's story

Michael Cullen, otherwise known as Speedo Mick, had his life transformed after doing his first solo crossing of the English Channel in 2014.

Self-acclaimed as an "Addiction survivor, Channel Swimmer" in his Twitter bio, Mick finished his 'Giving Back Tour' on 17 December, walking 2500 miles around the UK and Ireland over six months in only his speedos to raise money for the Speedo Mick Foundation, which helps young people facing hardship. 

"Homelessness, mental health and disadvantaged young people are issues very close to my own heart as I've been through those struggles and I know how hard it is to come out the other side," explains Mick on his website.

Facing the elements, including snow, wind and rain without protection, Mick remains focused on the benefit his feats will provide for others.

He said: "In my life, I've been in some dark, lonely, hopeless places and for me, one of the most rewarding parts of my fundraising has been to help people who are facing what I have faced."

Speedo Mick finished his first crossing of the English Channel as a novice swimmer in 2014, training with the Serpentine Swimming Club in Hyde Park.

In February 2020 Speedo Mick came to the end of his three month John O'Groats to Land's End walking tour, but he struggled without a sense of purpose during lockdown.

"The last year has been very tough for me personally. I've struggled with depression and at times it felt like it was never going to end," said Mick.

"The Giving Back Tour has given me my purpose back after a really tough year and it's helped me see light at the end of the tunnel." 

Will's story

Wim Hof instructor, Will van Zyl, has created a lifestyle centred around cold immersion, and runs workshops in the UK. 

After struggling with spinal problems for many years, he heard of the Wim Hof Method, named after the famous Dutch 'Ice Man' who has broken multiple cold exposure Guinness World Records. 

Over the years Wim Hof developed the method based on three principles: breathing, cold therapy and commitment. 

Will said: “As a gateway to wellbeing, it is probably the single most effective ‘method’ that I’ve come across to get to a very calm, meditative state.”  

The method uses breath work as a foundation to incrementally increase the body’s ability to endure cold temperatures, and has been associated with studies that suggest it can alleviate pain, regulate mental wellbeing and help to manage the symptoms of some autoimmune diseases. 

In conversation with Will, he described how he suffered with extreme back pain since he was a teenager and broke his back in the 1990s, resulting in permanent nerve damage to his left leg.

He had tried various techniques including yoga and mindfulness to manage the pain but reached a crisis point a few years ago whilst working in a high pressure corporate job. 

“I lost sight of what was important, which was taking care of my body, and my back gave out again, badly.”

He had slipped two discs in his spine and was also suffering extreme pain from arthritis in his neck, and was taking anti-inflammatory medication up to eight times a day. 

After talking to a friend about the benefits of yoga and breathing exercises, he was recommended to attend a workshop by Wim Hof in Camden. 

“I walked in painful and a bit creaky, and I walked out with no pain at all, and I was very light and limber, and that was within a two-and-a-half, three hour period," said Will.

“Since then, I’ve weaned myself off non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. I don’t use them unless there’s an extreme problem with my back. I was going through six or eight of those a day. I now use two, maybe every two to three months.” 

He said that the cold immersion and breathing had induced a stress response in the body that produced a pain relieving effect.

In this stress state, the body releases adrenaline, cortisol and noradrenaline, triggering the release of endocannabinoids and endorphins in the body that help to create a good mood, as expanded in this study.

For those looking to start cold water immersion he recommends starting with cold showers, using his step by step guide. 

For ice baths, he recommends learning how to regulate breathing to get into the right mindset before entering the water. 

He said: “In an ice bath, I’d always advocate doing your first ice bath with someone, and I’d always make sure that you set yourself a maximum cut off threshold.

"Regardless of how you feel, you will come out of your first ice bath after 60 seconds. So go very gradually, and feel your way in, feel what your body is telling you.”