How protected is it to take plunge past the summer time in Ireland? – The Irish Times

It’s simply after 8am at Low Rock Beach in Malahide, north Co Dublin, and a bunch of persons are establishing plastic chairs. There are baggage full of towels, swimming hats and wetsuit booties on the bottom, as they start to strip right down to their swimming togs, in preparation for his or her morning dip.

“It’s soul food,” Mary Lennon says enthusiastically, when requested why she’s braving the chilly on this brisk September morning.

She and her accomplice, Ken Lynam, attempt to swim a number of occasions per week. The first yr they began, earlier than Covid-19, they thought it could simply be through the summer time.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to do it. I went month by month. I said I’d go up to Christmas and that would be an achievement. And then it was like, maybe I’ll do January. And in fact, that year, March was the worst because it just felt like this was never going to get any warmer,” she laughs.

The couple are amongst a rising variety of people who find themselves choosing a morning or weekly sea swim as a part of their routine. And because the pandemic, extra persons are opting to stick with it outdoors of the summer time months.

Kevin Tracy (76) goes day-after-day. During the summer time, he might keep within the water for 20 or half-hour. As we transfer into the winter season, nonetheless, it’s a lot shorter.

“A lot of people would say they would rather see it cold rather than during the height of summer,” he says.

“You see the sun coming up every morning on the east, rising there, and you see the people. When they come back, they’re full of vitality and rigour. They’re bouncing around and they’re almost talking too much.”

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The psychological profit is one thing to which Liz Taylor additionally attests. Who wants an alarm clock if you’ve chilly waves to actually wake you up, she says.

“It’s a routine. I used to play tennis but I injured my back so now I do this.

“If it’s rough, we wouldn’t get in because those rocks are dangerous. So the waves are coming in, you could get knocked up on those rocks. Sometimes you know from looking at the winds that it’s not going to be suitable. I swim with a group, so usually a crowd of us go out together.”

The camaraderie between the group is obvious, with Connie Dottino, a 51-year-old from Argentina, saying sea swimming has helped her “integrate into the community”.

It can be, she says, a wonderful method to kick-start the day, feeling extra relaxed each bodily and mentally.

A 2023 examine revealed within the Official Journal of the Irish Medical Organisation discovered chilly water remedy has been proven to have physiological results throughout all the massive programs, bettering immunity, metabolic, cardiovascular and neurological well being.

The bodily profit is likely one of the predominant the explanation why 66-year-old Liam Kennedy hits the waves day-after-day. He has been concerned in sport since he was a toddler, enjoying rugby and captaining the Irish athletics staff in 1980.

“I come [to the beach] every day because I train every day, it fits into my schedule. I do running or weights and then I come down for a dip,” he says. “After a hard session then, the cold water gets rid of all that lactic acid.”

[ The addictive magic of swimming in the sea in winter: ‘It’s life affirming’Opens in new window ]

There are many positives to out of doors sea-swimming. But 2024 analysis performed by UCD’s Environmental Research Institute, on behalf of the Department of Housing, states cold-water swimming outdoors of the summer time interval can current “significant health and safety risks which many bathers may not be fully aware of”.

It highlights the dangers of contracting waterborne ailments specifically, stating that after heavy rain there’s a “greater inflow of faecal contaminants from surrounding catchments and often sudden decline in receiving water quality.”

The official bathing season runs yearly from June 1st to September fifteenth, throughout which interval the native authorities and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitor water high quality. Outside of this, nonetheless, there’s largely no testing of water high quality.

Karin Dubsky, co-founder of Coast Watch and a marine ecologist, says through the winter there’s an excessive amount of rain for sewerage crops to manage, which ends up in elevated pathogens within the water.

“If you’re in calm weather, you have your head above the water, that’s one thing. But if you’re in rougher weather, which what happens during the winter, you get splashes of water into your eyes, your ears, your mouth,” she says.

“You’ll ingest small amounts of bacteria and viruses and they’ll go into your tummy where they’ll feel totally at home to reproduce and make you sick. You know, diarrhoea or an upset stomach.”

Malahide swimmer Ken McCarthy is aware of all about it.

“I’m on antibiotics now for that. In autumn, a lot of sea swimmers get a bug, you know Delhi belly kind of thing. You could get it about twice a year. But it’s about being unlucky if you get it,” he says. “But it’s definitely getting worse. Definitely getting worse.”

Catching a illness isn’t the one potential consequence of sea swimming; there are additionally dangers related to the colder, rougher situations.

Anything under 15 levels is outlined as chilly water, which may severely have an effect on your respiratory and motion, in line with the RNLI.

Dr Eamonn O’Shea, the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) lead for heart problems, says there’s an “inherent risk” that individuals is probably not conscious.

“From now until next July, water is cold enough to bring on cold water shock. And what happens is you hyperventilate, your blood pressure goes up, your heart rate goes up. Even if they’re very fit and healthy, that shock can cause heart problems, including cardiac arrest,” he says.

“That’s only a small minority of people now, and it would mostly be someone who has fallen in unexpectedly or someone who is not adequately prepared for it. It’s important to acclimatise the body.”

Maureen McCoy, an award-winning long-distance open water swimmer, coach and creator, says the after-swim espresso and cake is about socialising, nevertheless it’s additionally essential to heat up through the winter months.

“You have to protect yourself after. You should have extra layers, somewhere to keep the towel dry, particularly if it’s a rainy day,” she says.

“The hot drinks are warming up the body from the inside out, which is so important. Even getting your hands around a warm cup. Eating too can generate more warmth in the core area. That’s why you see so many swimmers having cake and coffee after a dip.”

She and her accomplice Paul McCambridge, a photographer, swimmer and coach, have launched two books on wild swimming in Ireland. It’s one thing they’re captivated with, however Ms McCoy says there have been some “concerning trends” post-pandemic.

“We’ve seen an awful lot of people challenging how low can you go. As in how low temperatures can the person put up with. That is something I would caution against; it leads to real problems,” she says.

“When you experience cold shock, you lose muscle strength and function. After a certain amount of time – and that is very individual – people then can’t really swim. It’s called swim incapacitation. The result of that can be quite tragic.”

Joanne Walsh, chief govt of Water Safety Ireland, says one other difficulty is that outdoors of bathing season, there aren’t any lifeguards who may help if somebody will get into problem.

“You should swim in an area that is known to be safe. Swim with a friend. Check the tides. Check the currents. And just because the light isn’t as good as it would be during the summer season, you should wear a brightly coloured swim hat or brightly coloured togs,” she says.

But the group in Malahide consider it’s all about being conscious of issues of safety and guaranteeing they’re not taking any pointless dangers. A member of their group places up the water temperature on a board within the altering rooms on a regular basis, so folks know precisely what they’re stepping into.

“The sea is always in charge,” says Anne O’Sullivan, one of many group. “Because we all know it so well, we know whether we can go in or not go in. We generally go in together and just stay safe.”