Cold Water Swimming-Benefits and Risks: A Narrative Review.

Beat Knechtle, Zbigniew Waśkiewicz, Caio Victor Sousa, Lee Hill, Pantelis T Nikolaidis

Journal: International journal of environmental research and public health 2021;17(23):

PMID: 33276648

Abstract

Cold water swimming (winter or ice swimming) has a long tradition in northern countries. Until a few years ago, ice swimming was practiced by very few extreme athletes. For some years now, ice swimming has been held as competitions in ice-cold water (colder than 5 °C). The aim of this overview is to present the current status of benefits and risks for swimming in cold water. When cold water swimming is practiced by experienced people with good health in a regular, graded and adjusted mode, it appears to bring health benefits. However, there is a risk of death in unfamiliar people, either due to the initial neurogenic cold shock response or due to a progressive decrease in swimming efficiency or hypothermia.

Address: Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland.; Institute of Sport Science, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education, 40-065 Katowice, Poland.; Department of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation Moscow, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 19c1 Moscow, Russia.; Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.; Division of Gastroenterology & Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8N 3Z5, Canada.; School of Health and Caring Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece.

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17238984

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https://medlineplus.gov/hypothermia.html

MeSH Terms: Cold Temperature, Humans, Hypothermia, Seasons, Swimming, Water