Swimming studies in Windermere

Jonathan Cowie reports from the Outdoor Swimming Research Forum 2024, a fascinating conference in the Lake District exploring the science of swimming

As outdoor swimmers we all know that swimming in open water gives us physical and mental health benefits. So it was a fascinating experience for me to attend a research conference last month where I heard presentations from leading academics and researchers who are delving into the science of swimming and undertaking important studies that will help bring the benefits of swimming to a wider group of society.

The Outdoor Swimming Research Forum 2024 was held at the Windermere Jetty Museum. Despite being just up the road from my usual swim spot, delegates came from all corners of the world and included leading researchers, ecologists, journalists, advocates and those influencing policy and working within diverse swimming communities.

The event opened with a presentation by organiser Taylor Butler-Eldridge of the University of Exeter, whose research project I was lucky enough to have been part of in the form of a ‘swimalong’ interview undertaken last year in Windermere. Taylor interviewed 40 swimmers and dippers during a 12-month wet ethnographic enquiry into attitudes to wellness and the environment we swim in. What risks do we take when we swim and how do we balance risk with the benefits we gain from swimming outdoors? But also how do we place our swimming within a wider context of national water quality issues as well as the global climate crisis?

Swimming in ecologies

Other interesting talks included Rebecca Olive’s (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University) discussion of ‘swimming in ecologies’ – how activities like open water swimming act as ‘world making’ practices that bring people, ecologies, technologies, geographies and histories into relation. Based in Australia, Rebecca’s research immerses her in the more risky aspects of open water – sharks, jellyfish and pollution.

There has been little research into swimming outdoors when pregnant, so Eva McGrath’s (University of Plymouth) presentation on swimming in cold water when pregnant was fascinating (and also an emotional journey in itself, utilising poetry and art). Further research is needed into this topic, but as she explained, finding enough women willing to swim in cold water when pregnant – and to get the funding for such a project – is a big ask!

Joyce Harper’s (University College London) research looked at swimming and menopause and perimenopause. Her talk concluded with what many Outdoor Swimmer readers may also believe: that women felt that cold-water swimming had a positive effect on their symptoms.

Presentations from Damian Stevenson of the Black Swimming Association and Maggy Blagrove of Open Minds Active looked at breaking down barriers to those less visible in blue spaces, particularly in urban settings.

Cold water therapy

Many readers of this magazine may be aware of the work of Heather Massey (University of Portsmouth) around the science behind cold-water swimming. Her presentation with Hannah Denton (Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust) was about the effects of cold water swimming on the symptoms of depression and the OUTSIDE randomised controlled trial (OUTdoor Swimming as a nature-based Intervention for Depression), asking whether outdoor swimming would be a helpful and cost-effective treatment for depression. As a swim coach involved in this project (providing people with depression with an eight-week open water swim course) it was uplifting to hear how the research suggested that swimming outdoors in a group lifted the symptoms of depression for the majority of participants.

What to do after a day talking about swimming? Swim, of course! Day one of the conference ended with a group dip in England’s largest lake. Sunshine, community, blue and green spaces and cool water – putting into practice the day’s discussions.