![](https://outdoorswimmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Frost_Fair_of_1814_by_Luke_Clenell-1-1140x815.jpg)
Too cold to swim?
How the Little Ice Age could be at least in part responsible for Europe’s swimming drought in the Middle Ages. By Elaine K Howley.
In a quirk of human history, some of the earliest, most cogent artistic representations of humans swimming hail from an incredibly arid region where there’s not a drop of swimmable water.
![Swim retreat Cornwall](https://outdoorswimmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_2426-75x75.jpeg)
![Standing heel lifts](https://outdoorswimmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screen-Shot-2024-02-09-at-10.52.43-AM-75x75.png)