An Exploratory Study Into the Effects of Regular Cold-Water Sea Swimming on Daily Indices of Mental Health

Abstract

Aims

There is an emerging literature demonstrating the physical and psychological benefits of cold-water swimming. The majority of this research, however, is qualitative or assesses effects across several months. As daily changes in mood contribute to overall well-being, the current study sought to explore more proximal changes by adopting a diary approach to investigate the effects of regular cold-water swimming.

Methods

Data were collected from an opportunistic sample of healthy, regular, female swimmers (N = 13) in the United Kingdom. Participants completed online questionnaires twice daily. They reported whether it was a swim day or a non-swim day and then completed questions assessing state, cognitive and somatic anxiety, self-confidence (morning and evening) and feelings of wellness and sleep quality the night before (morning only). Analysis of variance was conducted to assess differences between swim and non-swim days.

Results

Cold-water swimming led to significant reductions in anxiety and increases in self-confidence on the day of a swim and improved self-reported sleep and lower levels of next-morning anxiety.

Conclusions

This exploratory study is the first to utilise a daily diary method to capture proximal changes in regular cold-water swimmers. These results provide further evidence of the beneficial effects of cold-water swimming on factors that contribute to psychological well-being.