By joining us, you will not only be able to enjoy swimming in the beautiful Vierwaldstättersee, but you will also be welcomed into a wonderful group of like-minded, adventurous, and maybe slightly crazy people from all over the world. We speak German, Swiss German, English, Spanish, Italian, French etc. and are based all around Lake Lucerne. As well as the social side, winter swimming offers a number of physical and mental health benefits.
Benefits of winter swimming
There is plenty of anecdotal as well as scientific evidence to suggest that winter swimming (and cold training in general) improves your wellbeing. The most commonly experienced benefits are:
More energy and vitality
Improved mental clarity and focus
Higher resilience and an increased capability to adapt to life’s challenges and to keep calm in stressful situations
Improved quality of sleep
Reduced inflammation – therefore may help with inflammatory diseases such as arthritis
Acts as a natural pain killer – for people with a (chronic) pain syndrome, such as rheumatism
Strengthened immune system – many winter swimmers report that they get sick less often
Increased metabolism – may help with weight loss but only if you don’t binge afterwards ;-)
Improved mood – releases endorphines which act as a natural anti-depressant
Reduced anxiety – the cold helps to calm us down, through its activation of the parasympathetic nervous system
Reduced muscle pain after exercise – may help to increase athletic performance and to speed up recovery
We also think it’s a great way to spend some time in the fresh air. Why not join us for one of our weekly swims or continue reading on our resources page or FAQ page.
RISKS OF WINTER SWIMMING
Please be aware that you will only be able to experience these benefits if you practice winter swimming and related cold training activities in a save and responsible way, being mindful of your own boundaries. As with any sport, if taken to the extreme, winter swimming can be damaging rather than beneficial to your health. Here are some indicators to tell you that you may have overdone it:
You are still feeling cold more than two or three hours after cold exposure
You are noticing frost boils, especially on your fingers and toes (joints look red and feel swollen and feel itchy)
Your skin feels numb (indicates nerve damage)
Rather than getting sick less often, you get sick more often. This may indicate that your whole system is under too much stress, which may happen if you do winter swimming too often or for too long
Please always inform our winter swimming trainers, should you experience any of these symptoms.
Last but not least, as with any swimming activity, there is always the danger of drowning, so we advise not to swim alone and to take a life saving appliance, such as buoy or a Restube.
Who can go winter swimming?
Winter swimming is essentially suitable for anyone who doesn’t have a heart problem, untreated high blood pressure or asthma. If you are affected by either of these, we recommend consulting with your doctor before trying winter swimming.
If you are pregnant, please talk to your gynecologist before you attempt winter swimming. There seems to be no consensus in the winter swimming world as to whether or not it is safe to swim during pregnancy. However, most doctors we have spoken to advise against it – at least in the first three months of pregnancy.