Does the magic happen outside your comfort zone?

Rachael Wood Rachael.Wood@aspen-waite.co.uk

At Aspen Waite, we love our sports, whether that be Rugby, Cricket, Hiking, Surfing OR in my case, Open Water Swimming.

Is there a correlation between sports performance & business success? At Aspen Waite we believe so, as a strong mindset combined with the necessary skills & expertise is a key ingredient to success in both.

Some say the magic happens outside your comfort zone, and if you have pushed yourself across that imaginary dotted line, I’m sure you will agree this to be true.

Open Water swimming is nothing new. It became fashionable in 18th Century after George III took a sea dip in Weymouth, Dorset, and remains of a Victorian bathing house can be seen at Elberry Cove, Devon, a beautiful swim spot where I co-incidentally bumped into Aspen Waite Chief of Staff, John Porteous during the summer.

Open Water swimming has become incredibly popular over the last two years, the uptake largely driven by the closure of public swimming pools during Lockdown Life. There has consequently been a massive increase in Cold Water Swimmers and the media has been rife with stories of cold-water enthusiasts immersing themselves in any available body of chilly water, from lakes, rivers, streams & the sea to water butts in their back gardens!!

What’s all the hype about? Aside from the huge sense of achievement from cold water swimming/dipping/exposure, there are numerous health benefits, including:

• Boost to Immune System • Reduces Inflammation • Reduces Stress. • Increased Confidence and Resilience • Burns Calories • Increases libido • Feel-Good Factor

Last year, after a summer of balmy water temperatures; the River Thames reached circa 22 degrees centigrade in July/August, my swim buddies and I were drawn into the idea of a Cold-Water Challenge to keep us going through the winter months. I started off with a modest goal to swim 10x through winter in skins, i.e. just swimsuit, swim hat and goggles, no neoprene, from 1st Oct – 31st March. By 1st November this challenge courtesy of ChallengeCo.co.uk was complete.

My next step was a commitment to swim a minimum of 3,000m per month from November-March, with the aptly named Polar Bear Challenge; Arctic level. With thanks to the support and camaraderie of my fabulous swim buddies who accompanied me either IN the water or ON the bank, I completed this by mid-March, reaching a total of 25,000m in skins. Buzzing from the successful completion of this goal, I set myself a self-imposed challenge to double it to reach 50,000m by end of April. I’m delighted to say I achieved this, thanks to swimming 23/30 days, and in what seemed like all seasons in one month, in rain, wind, even snow(!)and shine, with a couple of moonlit swims for good measure! Through last winter we swam in water temperatures as low as two degrees and safe to say, that probably was two degrees too cold!! Anything below five degrees is classified as an Ice Swim by IISA (International Ice Swimming Association) and yes, we had to break the ice to swim at two degrees! At times, even now, on occasion my fingertips do still tingle from the experience! As a side effect, all the hard work and training in the winter months enabled me to reap the rewards with some fabulous swim-venture holidays in the summer, including a fourday trip to swim around the infamous Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall with Swimtrek in August. This season I have raised the bar and am stretching myself to attempt the ultimate level of the Polar Bear Challenge, Jedi Level. In addition to the commitment to swim at least 3000m each month from 1st Nov-31st March, there are several different set distance swims to achieve at varying degrees from 2,000m at none degrees or less, to 1,000m at sub 5 degrees. To be honest, I know this is a HUGE stretch. However, with the mindset “IF you shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will land amongst the stars” I am challenging myself to go for it, safe in the knowledge that IF I only achieve half of the required swims, I will qualify as an Apprentice Jedi. This in itself will still be a big step forward from my achievements in the 20/21 winter season, and a stepping stone to achieving the ultimate goal of Jedi Polar Bear, which is a recognised training platform to swim an Ice Swim; completing one mile in skins in water temperature sub 5 degrees. Pushing myself to do this has opened doors to new friendships and given a great sense of achievement. The buzz from reaching any given goal in the process, is a step in the right direction, and without a doubt, after an invigorating early morning swim my mind always feels sharper and more focused for the day ahead. If you’re intrigued to try Cold Water Swimming, though not sure where to start, the first step is to educate yourself as to the benefits of, as well as risks associated with Cold Water. There is a brilliant, short free online course available from Love Open Water which is mandatory before swimming in any of their managed venues during the winter months. There is also a fantastic Mini Cold Water Swimming Quiz to test your knowledge afterwards. Both are categorically MUST DO’s for anyone considering dipping their toes into the water. Please see the link below. https://loveopenwater.co.uk/cold-waterinduction/

Stay safe & Enjoy! Any Questions, feel free to contact me:

Rachael.Wood@aspen-waite.co.uk