If you swim in a pool, have recently learned to swim, or have been swimming for a long time but are looking for new experiences—or if you've started cold-water bathing and want to take it to the next level—I invite you to embark on a new adventure: WINTER SWIMMING. Drawing on my years of experience, both as a swimmer and a winter swimmer, I’ll show you how to start this new activity and how to prepare for it.
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Marta Rother: Coach at the Sports and Physical Education Center of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, instructor of the Masters Swimming Section at WUST, and a passionate advocate of swimming in cold water. Holder of world records achieved during the World Championships in Głogów 2022 and Samoëns 2023, recognized by the International Ice Swimming Association.
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How to Start?
Ask yourself: Why winter swimming?
There are many reasons why people swim in cold water, but the most important thing for maintaining motivation is for you to know why you’re doing it. When you step out of your comfort zone and enter icy water, your mind will rebel, sending you sabotaging thoughts. If you have strong motivation, you may not immediately start swimming, but at least you’ll overcome that first challenging moment.
Find an inspiring winter swimmer.
Look for people worth following and learning from as you begin your journey in this sport.
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Read in AQUA SPEED Magazine!
An interview with winter swimmers Łukasz Tkacz and Piotr Świtaj.
Your First Ice Swim
What You Need
Prepare Loose Clothing: Have loose-fitting clothes ready that you can quickly and easily put on after coming out of the cold water. Remember, your hands will be stiff, and tying shoelaces or fastening buttons may be challenging.
Wear a Swim Cap: Keep in mind that your head (brain) is the most vascularized part of your body and loses heat very quickly.
Use Earplugs: When you stand upright after leaving the water, you might feel dizzy or unsteady, like being drunk. Earplugs can help alleviate this issue.
What You Need to Know
Avoid Intense Warm-ups: A warmed-up body reacts more strongly to temperature differences. A few arm circles, bends, twists, or squats are enough to prepare yourself.
The First Entry Will Be a Shock: Your instinct will likely push you to turn back. It’s crucial to have experienced, encouraging people nearby who can calm you down and help you take that first plunge.
You’ll Experience Rapid, Shallow Breathing: This is your body’s stress response—a signal to flee. Your muscles will tense, making it harder to swim. Stay calm and relaxed. Splash your face, pour some water on the back of your neck, take a deep breath, and exhale to release muscle tension.
Trick Your Mind: When attempting something unfamiliar, resistance is a natural reaction. Don’t let sabotaging thoughts discourage you from entering the cold water. The longer you hesitate, the stronger and more convincing these thoughts will become. Try Mel Robbins’ 5-second rule: count backward from 5 to 1 and step in. Counting backward focuses your concentration, and by the time you hit zero, you’ll already be in the water (laughs).
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Important Note: Check if you have any health conditions that contraindicate winter swimming. Like any sport, it requires medical clearance before starting. At competitions like world championships, ECG tests are even required for longer distances (500 m and 1 km).
Immersion in Cold Water
First Few Strokes: Start with a few front crawl or breaststroke strokes while keeping your head above water, and then gradually immerse your face.
Regulate Your Breathing: You’re likely to feel short of breath at first. The best solution is to maintain even breathing, inhaling every second arm stroke.
Set a Goal, but Don’t Overdo It: Decide how many meters you’ll swim today or how long you’ll stay in the water, but don’t push yourself too hard. While you may feel capable of swimming even a kilometer while in the water, remember that the real challenge begins after you get out—your body will need to fight off the cold as part of the workout.
Competing in Ice Swimming
Planning Your Races
Start with Shorter Distances begin with shorter distances (50 or 100 meters), gradually extending to 250 meters by the end of the season. Be cautious about ambition! You’ll likely enjoy it and may feel tempted to tackle the 1-kilometer “royal distance” in your first season.
Practice Humility Developing humility is essential in your first season. The best time to increase your distance is during your second or third season of ice swimming competitions.
Polish ice swimming event organizers require proof of completing shorter distances in water below 5°C (41°F) before registering for 500m and 1km races. You must also have support—a designated person on the shore to assist you after exiting the water and handle potential hypothermia.
Understanding the Challenge of 1km. The 1-kilometer distance is an entirely different experience compared to, for example, 100 meters. It’s not just about fatigue or the extreme cold during the swim, but also the profound effects on your body afterward.
Sign up for events through the Ice Cup Poland website. Between November and March, you’ll find numerous competitions across Poland.
Your First Race
Arriving at the Event you’ve arrived, you don’t know anyone, you’re nervous, and you feel lost. Don’t worry! Ice swimmers are fantastic people who will surely take care of you.
At the Registration Desk sign the necessary health declarations. A friendly staff member will likely write your number on your arm with a marker.
Warming Up instead of a traditional warm-up, do a few swings, bends, and arm circles. Wait to be called by the referee.
Entering the Water when called, strip down and enter the water. You won’t have much time to adjust, so splash your face, neck, and chest area, take a deep, relaxing breath, and dive into the amazing new adventure awaiting you!
Why Swim in Cold Water?
You’ve just read words like safety, hypothermia, afterdrop, numb, frozen, and more. It might seem like this sport is incredibly tough and dangerous.
People from the outside will ask: “Why do you do this? Is it even healthy?” At that moment, consider the risks, accidents, and physical exhaustion in other sports—triathlon, boxing, mountaineering, ski jumping, marathons, skiing, road cycling, acrobatics, and so on. Some of these are more accident-prone or injury-inducing than others.
When thinking about the health aspects, I assure you that there are more benefits than downsides to being exposed to cold—for both the body and the mind. This is an incredibly captivating sport, and the number of people participating in it is growing rather than shrinking. You can train for the pure joy of it, without focusing on performance or results.
Cold water swimming brings immense benefits for your health, physique, well-being, and body. What drew me to this sport was the desire to overcome my own limitations. What keeps me in it for the long term is the chance to be surrounded by extraordinary, inspiring, and most importantly, happy people.
Photo: Antek Mazerant | Pictures taken during the winter swimming competition "Cold and Cool," sponsored by AQUA SPEED.
