Cast your mind back to the bleak evenings or even afternoons of January dear reader, the temperature low, morale and enthusiasm for life lower still and by 4pm even the sun had given up on the day. It’s the time of year that you’d be excused to draw the curtains and concede that when the sun is done so are you, the fine folk of Faversham Pools though had other ideas.
On first glance the social media post encouraging followers and screen scrollers to consider an outdoor swim on a Tuesday or Thursday evening might have been viewed as some form of sick joke or an employee going rogue on the socials. But week after week these posts kept coming, and the engagement rising, comments such as ‘thank you for opening’ and ‘game on, can’t wait’ were flooding in, that accompanied with the inviting picture of the pool looking rather warm with steam rising off it was enough for me make the booking. Sunset swim, mid-January, why not?
Arriving in the car park at 6:45PM I was a man full of regret, darning my £6 investment and wondering if I was going to be the only nutter to take the plunge. I wasn’t, the outdoor pool was a hive of activity little floating heads bobbing up and down the lanes, most of which were wearing smiles, huge elated grins, the kind you don’t come across too often in January.
‘Heated pool’ that’s what the social media post told me, 18 degrees that’s like a summer’s day I thought… turns out it’s still pretty chilly, so much so a few involuntary noises are made upon entry a few “oh’s” and a few expletives are muttered. That’s when the seasoned swimmers reassure you with “it’s alright once you get moving… honestly” all the while wearing a smile so stretched you can’t help but wonder if this is all a practical joke.
A length or two later and I’m wearing the same smile, the elated grin while I swim.
Before I know it, I’m the guy reassuring concerned newcomers into the pool ‘it’s alright once you get going trust me’. There’s a reason you see so many donning dry robes and swimming in the sea all year round in our neighbouring seaside towns because a cold water swim does leave you feeling fantastic. There are so many benefits, for one it boosts your immune system. Cold water helps to boost the white blood cell count because the body is forced to react to changing conditions. Over time, your body becomes better at activating its defences. Studies suggest the cold water swimming is beneficial for anxiety and reduces stress. It also improves your circulation as cold water swimming flushes your veins, arteries, and capillaries, and is a cracking workout. You’ll leave the pool in a much better mood than you entered; I’ve found it to be euphoric, in a way, and addictive.
One of the Faversham sunset swimmers, Hannah, tells me she came initially as a ‘surprise’ from her partner, “as you can imagine it was quite the surprise to find out it wasn’t a meal out but a cold swim, I wasn’t over the moon”. However, she is now a regular and she’s far from alone, the sunset swims have proved so popular throughout the winter that the pool added extra sessions to the timetable. Some of the lucky sunset swimmers were gifted to a show as a murmuration of starlings filled the skies above the pool.