2. Safe Swimming – Pass the Salt

Cold Water Sea Swimming Kit, Tips and Advice

There has been a lot of chatter in the Salty Seabird Community group as swimmers are gearing up for for cold water swimming. Many more swimmers are keen to join the flock as year round swimmers but need some pointers regarding kit, safety advice and tips on getting warm afterwards. So here goes;

What should you wear in the water?

That is entirely up to you. If you wear a wetsuit you will be able to go in the water for longer and be able to bear colder temperatures without the need for boots and gloves further into winter. You will also be able to swim with your head in the water longer into the season. Bear in mind that swimming wetsuits are designed for front crawl and can make your neck and shoulders ache if you are a head up breast stroke swimmer. You may wish to consider a standard watersports wetsuit instead which is more hard wearing and easier to get on without damaging. Oceans sports offer a discount for Seabirds. If you wish to skin swim (no wetsuit) all year round it is a good idea to wear neoprene accessories. Boots not only keep your feet warm but help you exit the cold water safely as the shingles move around with waves and hurt like hell as you try to walk back up to the beach to your warm clothes. Neoprene gloves keep your hands warm and able to function when it comes to fastening zips and negotiating getting dressed. A sw im hat keeps the wind chill off your head and your hair dryish which also helps with staying warm. Thermal rash vests, neoprene rash vests and cossie are all options too.

For your safety we would recommend that you wear at least a bright coloured hat (RLSS and RNLI recommend orange or pink) and a tow float so you can be seen.

What should I wear whilst getting changed and after swimming?

Lots of loose layers – there is absolutely no need for underwear as you are likely to forget it anyway. We use Haramaki belly bands to warm up our cores and use as bras too. You can also pop a hot water bottle in there to warm up your kidneys. A woolly hat. We use bobble hats as a way to identify ourselves as Salty Seabirds. As soon as you whip off your neoprene or silicone swim hat – get a woolly one on. A Sports robe to get changed under whilst keeping the elements at bay. We particularly like the Charlie McLeod ones which now have version made out of PET but there are lots on the market to choose from. We like the Charlie because it is amply big to get changed in but not so big you can’t cycle in it etc. There short sleeved versions are the most popular. Woolly socks and cozy slip on boots are also recommended along with wrist warmers.

How can I warm up after swimming?

Have a hot drink of your choice. It you use an isothermal bottle to keep it in then poor into a mug to warm your hands. Sip it slowly and obviously accompany it with cake. Hot water bottles are great just be careful not to burn yourself as some have done in the past. You can wrap up your changing towel or clothes in it while you swim so they are warm when you get out. A mat to put down on the cold pebbles to stand on and keep the chill off your feet. Move around, whatever you do don’t sit still, or have a hot bath, or wrap in a blanket in front of a laptop. You need to warm up slowly using exercise. Walk the dog, do squats, run up and down the beach, do the hoovering. You need to warm up from the inside out, not the other way round. Your core and essential organs need to be warmed up slowly to prevent the after drop and hypothermia.

“After drop” is common after swimming in cold water; you get out and feel fine, and then you start to get colder, sometimes growing faint, shivering violently and feeling unwell.” (Outdoor Swimming Society)

Learning to head off the after drop is a key part of continuing to swim in cold water all year round. While in the cold water you can be lured into a false sense of security (numbness!) and stay in for what turns out to be too long. With practice you learn your limitations and just how cold you are going to be about 10 minutes after getting out. You then moderate your swim times and get out before you feel you have to. Then the key is warming up – slowly. If you have a hot shower, for example, the blood can run from your core (where it is working hard to maintain your core temperature and keep you alive!) to your skin and actually make your temperature drop along with your blood pressure – potentially making you feel faint and ‘stinging’ your skin.

How do I know if it is safe to swim?

Only you can answer this question. And if you are asking the question “is it safe to swim?” you are demonstrating uncertainty in your ability so the answer is probably no. It is unfair to ask your fellow swimmers to make this decision for you as only you really know you. Here is a checklist to go through but it is not exhaustive.

Check the weather and sea forecast using Magic Seaweed, Wind Guru and Windy – this will give you a good indication but nothing beats taking a look yourself. Be prepared to change your mind/plans accordingly when you get to the beach. And during your swim.
Consider your SEA swimming ability (not pool swimming ability). Are you an able and experienced year round sea swimmer that knows this beach well?
Have you acclimatised throughout the season and do you know how to acclimatise and prevent cold water shock before each swim?
How far, how long are you intending to swim for?
Do you know how to get in and out of the sea safely and are there safe exit points?
Are you physically well. No injuries, or infections or viruses that may impact your ability to swim and stay warm. Did you sleep well or are you tired.
Are you mentally well or is your judgement impaired by tiredness, your state of mind of substances

How long should I stay in for?

No idea! That all depends on so many factors like what you wearing, how far you are swimming, what is the water temperature, your physical abilities, your seasonal acclimatisation. Again only you can make this decision. Experience will allow you to understand the messages your body is sending you so try to go regularly and build up slowly. Some get out when they start to feel comfortable and like they could stay in there forever. This is the stage your body enters prior to hypothermia so it’s good to get out before you become pre-hypothermic which can make you disorientated and shake uncontrollably. You’ll only do this once (we hope!).

What is the temperature of the water?

The answer to this will depend on who you ask, which forecast you use, what thermometer you use etc. A better question would be how cold will the water feel. So if the wind is northerly it will feel colder because the air temperature is colder. If it is the morning the pebbles won’t have had time to warm up making it much colder under foot. If it’s wavy with a south westerly wind it seems warmer somehow. If you are tired or if you haven’t eaten it will feel colder as you don’t have the resources to stay as warm. If you are just bobbing and chatting rather than swimming consistent strokes you will cool down quicker. So rather than how cold is the water you should be thinking how cold am I?

What else do I need to know?

Most of all have fun! Don’t take it too seriously. Wear a woolly hat and paddle if you need to earn the post swim cake. Find some other salty sea swimmers to share swims, laughter, loud swearing with. The Outdoor Swimming Society also has lots of useful blogs and articles to get you started.

Happy (cold) Swimming!

10 Best Bits of Cold Water Swimming Kit

Woolly Hat and gloves, arm warmers. – it’s all about the layers
Sports Robe – to keep the wind chill and rain off you while you change and protects your dignity on a public beach
Haramaki core warmer – this is a game changer and warms up your vital organs fast and keeps the drafts out
Changing Mat – keeps your feet warm and clean and you can wrap wet stuff in it.
Neoprene gloves – keeps your hands warm to get dressed quickly
Swim hat, cap or headband – you lose lose a significant an=mount of heat from your head
Footwear – so you can get out of the cold sea quickly and safely
Neoprene cossie or vest – keeps your core warm so you can stay in for a wee bit longer
Flask of hot tea, coffee, chocolate or ribena
CAKE – an lots of it – you have earned it!

Know your Swim Spot

Here are ways to observe what is going on on Brighton and Hove beaches and things to look for when you go for a swim.

In order to swim safe take the time to get to know your swim spot. If you are swimming away from home do your research and/or ask local swimmers and ask to join a local group.

Get to know the topography of your beach at all states of tide and wind direction. Here are ways to observe what is going on on Brighton and Hove beaches and things to look for when you go for a swim. Some observations will apply to all beaches but some are very specific to B & H.

Brighton and Hove’s beaches are sandy to the west and chalk reef to the east with a shingle sea defence above them. It shelves steeply at high tide and flattens out at low tide. The depth of the water will change at different tide times from being out of your depth within a few steps at spring high tide to shallow enough to stand at the swim area buoys at a spring low tide. The shingle will move after strong winds and is always higher making the water shallower on the west of the groynes due to long shore drift.

There are numerous submerged structures at high water that are identified by red buoys around the West Pier and red lampshades at the end of outflow pipes. But many of our concrete groynes are not marked or visible at high water. They really hurt if you accidentally swim over one and can of course pose a real risk if you don’t know they’re there.

Our prevailing wind is an onshore South Westerly which creates local waves. If you haven’t checked the wind speed or direction before your swim you can look for wind direction clues. Look for lifeguard or building flags or seagulls that always face the wind to keep their feathers flat.

A northerly or easterly wind locally is offshore and the sea will be or look relatively flat but it can be deceptively dangerous and can push you out to sea. Lifeguard posts will fly an orange flag.

If you haven’t checked the tide times before your swim you can look for tide state clues. Wet shingle on a dry day indicates the tide is going out as the sea must have recently covered it. Sea craft at anchor with the bow facing east indicates the tide is going out as it faces the oncoming tidal flow. Visible dry green gutweed on groynes indicates the tide is coming in. Really sharp dry seaweed in the strand line high up the beach will be spring tide high water mark and indicate we’re on a neap tide cycle because the sea hasn’t reached it for a while.

If you want to know which way the current is flowing look at other water users, are they drifting in a particular direction. B&H currents flow towards the west when the tide is going out and towards the east when it is coming in. If you are not sure throw a bit of seaweed in and see which way it travels. You will also see how strong it is flowing. If the sea is submerging the end of the groynes in Hove it is roughly mid tide when the tidal flow current will be at its strongest.

The best advice is always swim at a lifeguarded beach if you can. Ask them for advice or read their information boards. Their job is to keep you safe and will welcome questions and conversation. They also appreciate being bought hot drinks or ice cream

Brighton and Hove Safe Summer Swimming

This blog contains specific details of the Brighton and Hove Lifeguard and Seafront Service for the summer of 2022 AND more general tips and links to useful resources for swimming in the sea in the summer.

Seabirds’ operate as a Community Interest Company that aims to encourage all local residents, of all swim abilities to join us in the sea. Our aim is to create a community space for people to enjoy the water and provide a way for swimmers to manage their mental health and wellbeing. The summer is great time to start as the lifeguard service is available and we have already seen lots of new Salties joining our flock. So as a warm welcome to warmer seas here is an informative blog featuring the iconic ‘Brighton Buoys’ and our summer season lifeguard service.

Normal Operating Lifeguard Service

The ‘SWIM AREA’ buoys arrive in early May ready for the lifeguard season to start on Brighton and Hove’s beaches over the May Half Term. Brighton and Hove normally has 11 lifeguarded beaches covering 14km of seafront from Saltdean to Hove Lagoon. The swim area buoys mark out an area that is safe to swim in if the yellow and red flags are flying and a lifeguard is on duty. They are not there for swimmers to swim round although many use them as markers to swim too and roughly measure the distance of their swim. If you were to see a bird’s eye view of them you would see they are never parallel and move around quite a bit in bad weather so it is a very rough measurement.

The season runs from May to September with the outer posts of Saltdean, Rottingdean and Ovingdean opening from July to September, as the schools break up. There can be between 2-4 lifeguards per post depending on how busy that particular beach is. The more popular touristy beaches by the Palace Pier have more lifeguards. All the beach lifeguards are supported by a lifeguarded boat that patrols daily and the Seafront staff and co-ordinators (the staff on the quad bikes).

Buoy Formation

These buoys are not to be confused with the boat lane buoys. These too are yellow but a different shape. However, from a distance, and as the swim area buoys are in a parallel line alongside the boat buoys, it is hard to see the difference. These buoys look like the picture below and are there to indicate where boats can approach to and from the shore. If you don’t want to get hit by a boat – don’t swim in these lanes. The boat lane buoys line up with yellow posts on the beach as per the picture below. This one to the west of King Alfred is by the boat winches and normally has kayaks locked to it. So if you can’t see the shape of the buoy from the shore – look for a post. The boat lanes are very close in proximity to some of the lifeguard posts most notably at King Alfred and Hove Lawns (D5) so please be mindful when you swim there as jet skis and small craft are allowed to launch and land there.

The most common rescue the lifeguards perform is retrieving swimmers from the Swim Area buoys. Swimmers head out for the buoys and when they get there can be too tired to swim back, not realise they made it there on a tidal current or offshore wind and don’t have the ability to get back, or get there and realise how far they are from shore and freeze both in temperature and ability to move. If you want to know more about swimming safely, improve your swimming confidence and technique or join us for a guided swim to enable you to swim safely this summer you can BOOK HERE

We understand, that for some swimmers having goals and targets gives you something to strive towards but this must be done safely. If you wish to increase your time in the water, build up to it slowly and stay close to the shore so you can exit quickly. Another way to measure your swim distance is to move parallel to the shore and count the groynes. These are roughly 100 metres apart and allow you to stay in shallower water and closer to a safe exit point. If you wish to swim to the buoys consider going at slack tide on a spring low with no wind. Don’t forget to wear a tow float and a bright coloured hat, preferably orange or pink.

The positions the lifeguards patrol are:

Duke’s Mound, BN2 1EN – 10:30am to 5:30pm

East of Brighton Palace Pier, BN2 1PS – 10am to 6pm

Central Brighton, West Street, BN1 2FN – 10am to 6pm

West Pier, BN1 2LN – 10am to 6pm

Hove Lawns Café, BN3 2FR – 10am to 6pm

King Alfred, BN3 2WW – 10am to 6pm

Extended positions for the summer holiday starting late July:

Rottingdean, BN2 7HR – 11:30am to 5:30pm

Saltdean, BN2 8SQ – 11:30am to 5:30pm

They are normally happy for you to leave your bags and belongings with them while you swim. And, they are happy to answer any of your questions or give you advice before you get in the water.

They will have boards close to their posts indicating tide times and sea conditions. There will be increased water patrols on boards and the boat and the new additions of towers dotted along our beaches have made watching beach and sea users much easier. They raise flags at their posts so it is easy to identify where they are and the safe swimming zone. A red and yellow flag indicates a safe swimming area. An orange flag indicates the wind is offshore and therefore inflatables should not be used. A Red Flag means it is dangerous to enter the water – this can be for many reasons and if you are unsure go and speak to the lifeguards on duty.

As RNLI Ambassadors we help share key messages about swimming in the sea safely. Below are their top 4 tips for using the beach safely and advice on what to do in an emergency.

Four Key Beach Safety Tips

Choose a lifeguarded beach. Swim between the red and yellow flags.
Don’t use inflatables in the sea. You can easily be blown out to sea with no way of getting back to shore.
Take a phone. In an emergency, dial 999 for the Coastguard.
If you’re in trouble in the water, remember #FloatToLive Lean back and use your arms and legs to help you float.

What to do in an emergency

STEP 1: Call for help. Keep an eye on the casualty, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

STEP 2: Talk. Talk to the casualty, encourage them to keep calm and float. Reassure them that you are getting help.

STEP 3: Reach. Try to reach them from the shore using any lifesaving equipment available. Do not go in the water yourself.

STEP 4: Throw. Throw a line to the casualty and pull them towards the shore if possible.

Other Useful Resources

How to read sea condition forecasts – & Reading Forecasts for Sea Swimming
Other useful apps are windguru, buoyweather and Imray
The seafront has a number of webcams to get an idea of the sea conditions before you leave home. They can change quickly though so be prepared to change you plans.
The Outdoor Swimming Society has lots of useful articles on swimming safely.
Water quality is measured by various organisation around Brighton and Hove. Surfers Against Sewage have a Safer Seas app that provides warnings if the water quality is low.
Seafront Office are happy to give advice. They cannot give you individual advice on whether it is safe for you to swim but can provide answers to general queries around water quality, sea temperature events etc. Their contact details are; 01273 292716.
The Royal Life Saving Society has great resources and go into more detail about using the beach safely and what to do in an emergency.

Swimming Through Stress

How to swim through your emotions and engage your parasympathetic nervous system and get the rest your body and mind need.

Mental Health and Wellness has been front and centre of many peoples consciousness for some time now. And never more so as we navigate a very new world. Rates of stress, anxiety and depression are increasing. Even the most stoic and grounded of us have felt the impact of a global pandemic. Even if the worry that consumes them concerns the physical and mental wellbeing of their family and friends rather than their own. It is still worry and stress. We are drowning in a sea of negative emotions and stress.

Emotions can be both positive and negative and are a human response to your experience of the world. There are many and they are complex but they are all linked to the nervous system. It is how the body and mind are intrinsically linked – the body is responsible for your internal messaging system and it’s physical reactions to situations or encounters and your mind is responsible for processing your emotional reactions. Emotions such as happiness, sadness, surprise, fear and anger are all responses to an event or series of events. The fundamental purpose of the nervous system and the emotions it stimulates, is to help us to survive. The most common being the Fight or Flight reaction when we experience fear or surprise.

The Fight or Flight (and less commonly known Freeze) reactions are part of the sympathetic nervous system. These reactions to life threatening events could be the difference between whether you, as a human, survive or die as a result of the situation. Think prehistoric man encountering a large carnivorous animal – the sympathetic nervous system prepares your body for this stressful situation by releasing chemicals like adrenaline which initiate the release of glucose fuel and raise the heart rate to get oxygen into your muscles – so you can fight of flee. In the modern day world stress inducing situations are more likely to be experiencing new or unexpected things, feeling threatened or out of control. So losing your job, or being robbed in the street would be examples of these feelings and experiences. But they can also be any sort of change to your day to day situation – something we have all experienced of late! These situations trigger hormones which left unmanaged by being constantly exposed to stress inducing situations can lead to chronic or long term stress.

Once the ‘life threatening’ situation has passed, assuming you are still alive, the human body is designed to return to a state of ‘rest’. This is initiated by the parasympathetic nervous system. It returns the body to routine. The parasympathetic system is responsible for your body’s basic but very necessary functions like maintenance and repair, digestion – things that can be carried out best when the body is in a state of relaxation or sleep. The two parts of the nervous system, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic, oppose one another but in that way they work together. The problem that many of us now have, given the current situation of new, unexpected, threatening and out of control changes, is that our sympathetic nervous system is dominating our everyday. We are not fully able to return to a state of rest. No wonder we all feel exhausted and overwhelmed.

The stress and overwhelm of recent events has significantly impacted our ability to cope. Life has literally become unmanageable for many. And there is no sign of the situation ending anytime soon. We, and everyone around us, is showing the symptoms of long term, chronic stress. Mood symptoms are low mood, anxiety and depression. Behavioural symptoms include withdrawal, lack of sleep, irritability, being tearful or being angry. Physical symptoms can be headaches, nausea, IBS and memory loss. As the change to our way of living shows no sign of abating we need to process our emotions to treat the symptoms. Even if / when life does return to normal it is still an important step in the emotional cycle. Even if the cause of stress is removed we need to process our emotions to return to a state of rest. Some of the ways in which we can do this is to emulate rest which will give the parasympathetic nervous system the jump start it needs. I do this by swimming in the sea with a salty community.

In the book ‘Burnout: The Secret to unlocking the Stress Cycle’ by Emily and Amelia Nagoski they look at practical ways you can finish the stress cycle and return to a state of rest. Some, if not all, of the ways can be achieved by swimming in the sea with a connected sea swimming community. Here are a few of them.

Breathing: Breathing regulates your nervous system, yogis have known this for years. Breathing is also a fundamental part of swimming in a couple of ways. Those of us that swim outdoors year round regulate our breathing to negate the cold water shock reaction as we enter the water. We take deep slow breaths and purposefully relax our bodies to prevent gasping and achieve acclimistation. Once swimming, particularly front crawl, long breath out, or trickle breathing as we call is, is exactly the type of breathing that allows efficient relaxed swimming.
Physical Activity: Any movement of your body is a great way of completing the stress cycle by encouraging the release of happy hormones. Swimming in the sea, may be a cycle or walk to your swim spot, a run before hand or even jumping up and down to warm up afterwards are great ways of getting your body moving.
Positive Social Interaction: My swimming community, like many others, has created a safe space built on positive social interaction. We are a group that value each others wellbeing. It allows us to care for one another, we fiercely protect and prioritise each others “self care” providing a place that your body knows it is safe. Just typing that I let a huge breath out! It’s the part of sea swimming with the Salty Seabirds I love the most. Our interactions don’t need to be deep and meaningful, cake and a chit chat with a huge helping of kindness is all we need to find the elusive state of rest. Even for just a few moments.
Laughter: Who hasn’t been outdoor swimming when something touches your leg, you fall over on your way into a river or a wave knocks you flying. These events induce huge belly laughs, it is a universal language that reduces stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline and increases endorphins. Laughter really is the best medicine for those stress symptoms.
Affection: In their book, Emily and Amelia refer to affection as human hugs, something we are not always able to do. I have my own spin on it. By being intimate and vulnerable within a swimming community you are met with virtual hugs and affection from other swimmers. Every time a new swimmer requests a swim buddy, strangers, who will soon become swimming friends, are incredibly affectionate, kind and compassionate with their responses. I also feel that the sea can hug you, hold you, provide you with a safe space as much as another human can.

Those of us that regularly swim in the outdoors have a saying, “you never regret a swim”. And this is try because it leaves you in a good mood, sometimes a high that can last the whole day. These ways in which we can return to a state of rest, relaxation and routine alleviate the mood, behavioural and physical symptoms of long term and chronic stress. So swim, breathe, laugh, hug and eat cake!

Seabirds’ Social Impact

Swim England’s research shows that swimming improves physical and mental wellbeing, actively reducing depression and anxiety in regular swimmers. Swimming has the power to help people live longer, better, happier lives – and as regular sea swimmers we know that swimming in natural, outdoor water like the sea, turbo boosts this power.

Seabirds is all about helping more people access the healing power of the sea and building community. We are a ‘Social Enterprise’. This means we run our business to do some good in the world, with the community’s interest at the heart of what we do.

This is how we do it:

Salted Wellbeing: Swimming for mental health

As mental health warriors Seabirds continues to promote Mental Health Awareness through our blog, social media posts and within our Swim Community.

Swim for All: Diversity and Inclusion

Our focus in 2022 will be on those who are unable to swim and work with other organisations to increase the diversity of the group to encourage more of our local community to access the sea as a way of managing their wellbeing.

We’ve signed up to the Black Swimming Association DIPER Charter and want to see the swimming community better reflect our whole community. We plan to support this by expanding our funding of courses of swimming lessons in local pools and provision of swim kit for both children and adults that are underrepresented in the outdoor swimming community. We have exciting plans to work with a local cycling community group, Brighton Multi-Ethnic Wheelers (BMWs!) to run beginner swimming lessons for their members.

Change the narrative

In 2022 we’re very excited to sponsor the film 54 Days exploring mental health, race, friendship, grief and wild swimming which highlights men’s mental health and challenges the narrative that ‘black people don’t swim’. (Please give their social media a follow and share so that we spread the word before the film comes out. )

Share the Swim Love: Community

We continue to nurture our Salty Seabird community (now at 4600 members!), which has been a lifeline for many during the pandemic. The community continues to amaze us with the love and support that the members offer each other through a shared love of getting in the sea.

We run confidence courses to provide a holding hand for people interested in swimming in the sea but nervous to join an established group.

Love where you Live: Environment

Seabirds stands for clean seas, clean beaches and the elimination of plastic pollution. We try to keep our environmental impact to a minimum. Locally we support sister Social Enterprise – Leave No Trace Brighton – with beach cleans and advocacy; and nationally we are members of Surfers Against Sewage’s 250 club, our way of being part of a powerful network of leaders, driving forward a movement for change and to protect the UK’s unique coastal environment.

Pay it Forward

To date we have raised over £17,000, which has:

been donated to local charities
funded swimming lessons, swim kit and pool access to local asylum seekers and;
funded our own sessions free or heavily subsidised for NHS workers and marginalised groups.

This is with huge thanks to all of you who have supported our mission by buying swim kit , signing up for swimming lessons, donated directly or taken part in our Arctic Tern Challenge Fundraiser. Thank you! xxx

Photo credit Julia Claxton who has an exhibition of her work on right now at the i360! go and see it!!!

Although the blog is free it would be wonderful if you could donate to our Swimming Community Fund. If you have found the advice useful, shared the content or enjoyed our stories of the sea a few quid would be gratefully received. Whilst anyone can suffer with a mental disorder and experience issues with their mental health, outdoor swimming community groups are only really visible and therefore accessible to people who are aware of them, and can swim! The Swimming Community fund allows us to work with existing ethnically diverse, refugee and low income community groups. We start from the point of teaching them how to swim and go from there. The idea being they then become part of our Brighton and Hove wide sea swimming community.

£1 Donation – Thank you

£2.50 donation – thank you

£5 donation thank you!

Is it safe to swim in the sea?

Part of the joy of swimming in the sea year round is getting to know your swim spot, your limits, your abilities and your swim buddies intimately. Do this the right way and you will be able to make sound judgements about whether it is safe to swim in the sea.

Swimming in cold water and outside of the ‘bathing season’ is very different to summer swimming. Lower air temperatures, storms are more likely, no lifeguards on the beach. It’s no longer just a case of grab your cossie and head out the door. People asking each other if it’s ok to swim. We get asked a lot, both online and on the beach, ‘is it safe to go in?’ And our answer is we don’t know.

We’re not saying that to be unhelpful, unkind, smug or territorial. It’s just that we don’t know. In most cases we have never met the person asking before. So we have no idea of their swim ability and more importantly experience of sea swimming at that particular location. We also have no insight into their physical and mental health at the time of asking and time of potential swimming.

Part of the joy of swimming in the sea year round is getting to know your swim spot, your limits, your abilities and your swim buddies intimately. By going in regularly at different tide states, tidal flows and temperatures you will begin to get to know yourself and what you are capable of and comfortable with. Do this gradually and safely, there is no rush, the sea is not going anywhere.

In addition to reviewing weather forecasts, sea conditions, tides before you swim you need to review yourself and your swim buddies. This is only possible by being honest and realistic about your capabilities and relying only on yourself to make decisions about whether it is safe to swim. Trusting your swim buddies to make the right decision for only themselves too. The decisions may be different for all of you. And that’s OK. Many times I have chosen not to swim in challenging conditions because I do not want to influence my swimming buddies by going in. Many times I have chosen a more sheltered spot because the forecast predicted unsuitable sea conditions where I normally swim. Many times I have just waited for a different day.

Whenever we swim somewhere new, we research the local conditions, tide times by asking locals. Whenever we swim in our usual spot we review for topographical changes each time we arrive. Whenever we swim anywhere we check our swim kit, swim buddies, forecasts before we leave the house, conditions when we arrive at the beach, entry and exit points, for hazards and most importantly how we are feeling. This ‘checklist’ is by no means exhaustive but demonstrates the need for safe choices being based on careful consideration and sound sea knowledge.

In the winter you can’t always swim on a wim. There is a degree of planning involved before you even leave the house. You need to know what the weather, the waves and the tides are doing. Find the apps or websites that work for you. When making decisions affecting your swim don’t rely on a single source of information. Check a few, make sure they are all saying the same thing, build a picture of what the conditions will look like based on the forecast information.

But remember nothing beats actually getting to the beach and checking again. Forecasts are exactly that, forecasts. Someone’s best predictions based on a multitude of factors. What is going on locally, in reality, can be different or you may have read the forecast wrong. It happens. Be prepared to abandon or adapt your swim plans when you arrive at your swim spot based on what is actually before you.

Webcams are looking at the water from a high vantage point which can distort our ability to assess wave and swell height. Even standing on a beach doesn’t really provide an insight into just how big a wave looks. When you are in the water, can’t touch the seabed, your head is in a trough and a two foot wave is bearing down on you it seems huge. If you are cold and tired it can look like a mountain. When only your head is above water, it’s all about perspective. And this can cause panic!

The wave seems bigger when you are in the water

This is particularly important when you are planning your entry and exit points. When you enter cold water your breath will be robbed. On flat calm you can enter gradually. This is also true of shallow waters. Rough high water swims mean you are going to get wet quick. Timing your entry is everything and fast immersion is inevitable.

But more importantly you need to plan your exit.

Waiting for a break in the waves to get in when you are standing on dry land and you are warm and full of anticipation energy is a completely different experience to getting out of the sea. You will be cold. You will be tired. It may not be the same spot you got in. You may not be in your depth and able to plant your feet on the sea bed and will be treading water for a while. You need to look out to sea and back to shore alternately and you assess when it’s good to get out. You may need to go back past the break line a few times until it’s safe to get out which can zap you of energy. You need to time it so the energy of the wave carries you in without dumping you unceremoniously on the shore. Can you do all of this? If you can’t don’t go in.

You need to check your swim spot and yourself before you go in. Have a good look around and look at yourself. When else do you get to stand still and just take stock? Hardly ever right? So embrace it and take advantage of this quiet time to give yourself an ‘MOT’ and connect with your surroundings.

Looking outward, what is the state of the beach? What is the state of the sea? Are there any structures likes harbour walls, groynes, rocks, piers? Are there any other water users like swimmers, fishermen, kite surfers, surfers, paddle boarders, the much maligned jet skiers? Is there slippery seaweed, flotsam, run off, litter? Looking inward, what state are you in. Did you sleep well last night? When did you last eat? How is your mental health? Do you have any injuries? And keep looking outward and inward through your swim and be be prepared to alter it so you stay safe.

Always be prepared to abandon your swim, before or during your dip.

Find a swim buddy or group to enjoy your sea swims with. They are not your lifeguards, your safety cover or your spotters. They are your company, your confidants, your community. My ‘swim wife’ knows me in a way my husband doesn’t, she is more aware of my abilities in the sea than he is, the signs that I’ve stayed in a tad too long, or if I’m procrastinating on the shoreline for longer than usual. Yes in an emergency they may be able to get help. But don’t rely on them to do that. The idea of swimming with others in the colder months is to build an intimate trust between each other. These are the the people that may spot the signs of cold water incapacitation in you and kindly but firmly tell you to exit the water. These are the people that help you get dressed when the after drop hits. These are the people who loan you a spare brightly coloured swim hat to keep your head warm and you seen. These are the people that support your safe swim decisions and share your winter swimming experience with. These people are not there to tell you whether it’s safe to swim. Only you can do that.

What you wear into the water is entirely up to you and there are adaptations you can make to your normal attire depending on the entry/exit point water temperature, and type of swim you plan to do. For example, I am a year round skin swimmer. Most of the time I don’t wear boots or gloves just a cossie and a brightly coloured hat. My feet have adapted to the shifting shingle of my local swim spot and my hands seem to manage without gloves. Many of my peers who have the same experience as me always wear something on their feet and hands. It’s just personal choice. And my choices are based on my knowing my limits and keeping my safety at the forefront of my decisions. In the coldest months I’m dipping for a few minutes no more so I’m just in my cossie but keep myself seen with a brightly coloured hat.

I wear a brightly coloured hat all year round! Be safe be seen – no one can help you if they can’t see you. It needs to be pink like a fishing float marker, yellow like a swim buoy, or orange like a lifeboat – colours chosen for the purpose of being seen at sea. Blue, white, black just cannot be seen even in relatively flat seas. If there are waves I occasionally put neoprene boots on so I can place my feet on the seabed and time my entry and exit with a modicum of certainty or run like Billy O away from a breaking wave. If I am swimming at a new spot I most definitely put something on my feet as it’s unfamiliar territory. If I’m coaching in autumn, winter and spring, I will wear a water sports wetsuit so I remain warm whilst I am responsible for others and myself. If I’m swimming any kind of distance I may chose to wear a swimming wetsuit, and always a tow float so I can be seen and stay warm. Different swims and different conditions warrant different decisions.

You still gain the cold water benefits when wearing a wetsuit and if that’s what is needed for you to be able to get in the sea, put one on. There’s no room for purists when it comes to safe sea swimming.

What you wear after your swim requires the same consideration. Nothing tight fitting and lots of loose layers. Buttons can bog off along with bras and tights and knickers are unnecessary. Have your clothes ready in the order you are going to put them on. I pity the person that tries to put on an inside out pair of trousers in the wind and rain. When you get out of the sea you need to be able to get into your clothes quickly.

A few hacks include;

Keep your dry attire in an insulated shopping bag with a hot water bottle.
Invest in a haramaki – it can be worn as a bra substitute or a core warmer and you can tuck another hot water bottle inside it – be careful not to burn yourself!
Do the zip half way up on your swim robe before you go into the sea so you can simply step into when you get out and not rely on numb fingers to do it up.
Bring two woolly bobble hats – one to wear in the water and a dry one to put on when you get out
Bring something to stand on and keep your kit dry. The ground can be freezing, wet, sandy….. my favourite bit of kit is a mat I can stand on with a waterproof base that has drawstrings and handles to carry my wet stuff home in. It can also be used to cover up my kit and keep it dry while I swim. Game changer!

You need to get dry and warm fast.

So to answer the question is it safe to swim in the sea? The answer is not a simple yes or no. Find your own sweet spot, somewhere between being safe and being spirited. You’ll know it when you find it. It’s all part of the adventure. And if anyone asks you if it’s safe to swim you know what to say!

Be kind but be firm that you cannot make that decision for others, only yourself. Look after each other – but most of all look after yourself! You are not responsible for anyone else’s swim decisions and they are not responsible for yours.

Author: Seabirds CIC

The “Pass the Salt” Seabirds Blogs include; Stories from the Sea, Advice for safe swimming, Swim kit recommendations and Wellbeing and Water reflections. Use the category menu on the home page to search for many more ……. happy reading and happy swimming. If you enjoyed this blog and/or others and have shared them please consider donating the cost of a hot drink or slice of cake to our Community Fund using the buttons below. The Community fund pays for swimming lessons, swim kit, transport etc for people in our local area that would benefit the most from sea swimming as a way to manage their wellbeing, but are under-represented in the outdoor swimming community. THANK YOU!

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Further reading;

How swimming into winter in a wild swim community ensures you are looking out for each other physically AND mentally.

Separating fact from fiction and dispelling the many myths that surround cold water swimming

Introduction to Winter Sea Swimming

Chilled Swimming

Winter Swimming; The Waiting Game

Cold Water Swimming; Kill or Cure?

The Great Neoprene Debate

The first question a fellow open water swimmers asks you is, skins or suit? Most people are a mixture of the two. Here is our guide to neoprene accessories, how they work, and how to look after them!

Are you skins or suit is pretty much the first question fellow outdoor swimmers will ask you. And my answer is both. I have been swimming in the sea, year round, for 10 years. The first 6 in a very thick 5mm wetsuit, gloves, boots and hood and skins for 4 years, the last one forgoing boots and gloves too. I choose what to wear depending on my swim. I have a 5mm watersports wetsuit for teaching children in, when I can be in the water for up to 2 hours in the middle of winter. I even wear my swimming wetsuit when I am coaching in the summer a lot of the time so I am warm and prepared to deal with emergencies should they arise. I also wear it when I swim alone for long distances, again for the same reason, I want to be safe. But most of the time I swim in skins. And it isn’t because of the faff. After decades of putting wetsuits on and taking them off I’m pretty quick at it and I have plenty of space to dry them. It’s just because now I associate my wetsuit with work or a work out and I associate skins with fun!

IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU WEAR AS ALONG AS YOU GET IN

Wetsuits

Wetsuits work by trapping a thin layer of water between your body and the suit, that your body warms up, so you need to get wet! Wetsuit wearers tend to gasp when the water finally trickles from the neck down the back. So you see, it does not protect you from cold water shock and you still get that initial ‘getting in’ screeching feeling, but you will be kept warmer over all by the neoprene. Neoprene is made of small closed cells that are filled with air which provide insulation against cold water by trapping heat in. The thing that they do need to be is tight. It will loosen a wee bit in the water, as it expands, but it does need to be close fitting without constricting the movement of your swim. Can you wave your arms about and do some squats is a good way to test it out for size. Too big and it will just fill-up with too much water to warm up, so pretty much pointless. If your core is kept warm by a wetsuit, a noticeable difference will be you hands, feet and head stay warmer for longer and so you may be able to swim head in and without the faff of socks and gloves as temperatures decline.

So what type of wetsuit? Oh and there are so many. So work out what kind of swimming you want it for and how you deal with cold temperatures. So you can opt for a swimming wetsuit or a watersports wetsuit. A swimming wetsuit is specifically designed for front crawl, lots of shoulder and arm flexibility, a smooth surface and it makes your bum buoyant to achieve correct body position. They can rip and tear easily so you need to be very careful when putting it on and it can make your neck and shoulders ache if you are wearing it to do head up breaststroke as you are fighting against a floating derriere. (There are also tri-suits which are specifically design for triathlons and transitions ). A watersports wetsuit is more robust but much less flexible making front crawl a lot of hard work. It is perfect for bobbing and head up chatting swimming though.

How thick should my wetsuit be? The thicker the suit’s neoprene, the warmer the suit will be because it has more heat-trapping insulation. However it is a trade off so the thicker the neoprene the less flexible and more constricting your suit will be. The normal range of thickness for swimming outdoors in the UK goes from 2mm in the summer to 5mm in the winter. The thickness various across the suit as it is thicker on the torso to aid with body position and keeping the core warm and thinner on the limbs for freedom of movement. You can of course opt for sleeveless, shortie, vest, cossie, zip up jacket, leggings….the list is endless. All aimed at keeping your core warm the difference is simply down to personal choice.

Neoprene vest and costumes are good options for keeping your core warm and still skin swim

Accessories

Gloves
Many skin swimmers opt for neoprene accessories, like gloves when temperatures really begin to drop. Some swimmers suffer from Raynaud’s Syndrome, Cold water Urticaria and chilblains. For them gloves are a game changer and allow them to continue enjoying cold water swims. Indeed it allows most skin swimmers to continue as the hands feel the cold strongly and after a prolonged period in the water warm blood is redirected away from them to keep your core warm making them colder still. Much like your choice of wetsuit or neoprene core warmer the right gloves for you will depend on what kind of swimmer you are or swim you plan to do. If you wish to continue head in front crawl throughout the year then you need a thinner glove with good flexibility so you can continue to feel the water and adjust your stroke accordingly. It you plan on a head out breast stroke you may be happier with a thicker choice. What ever you choose the advantage of wearing gloves is that you are able to get dressed and warm quicker after your swim than someone with numb lobster claws.

Socks/Boots/Shoes
These are all slightly different and again should be selected for the swim you want to do or the swimmer you are. The purpose of neoprene shoes is to protect the sole of your foot but not keep your feet warm. The purpose of the neoprene sock is to keep your feet warm but not protect the soles of your feet. The purpose of a neoprene boot is to do both. Both the shoe and the boot will affect your ability to swim as they will make your feet too buoyant but a good sock should allow you to swim normally regardless of which stroke you are doing. Again they need to be tight fitting or they will end up full of water some have additional fasteners to keep them flush to your skin. The boots can be awful to get on and off but there are some that have zips to make it easier. All offer some form of protection, for example, allowing you to enter and exit the water safely if it is a steep shingle beach and stopping shar objects from cutting your feet. So some form of neoprene on your feet is a good option for swimming year round!

Hats/Headbands/Caps
It is a bit of an old wives tale that your body loses a lot of its heat out through the head. However as normally the only bit of your body that experiences the sea temperature, air temperature and wind chill while swimming outdoors it is a good idea to keep it warm. Again there are few options for swimmers to chose from. Whatever you wear cover your ears, they definitely need protecting from the cold water and ear infections and swimmers ear can keep you out of the water for long periods of time, so cover them up with some neoprene. Like gloves and socks, choose the thickness that is right for you. If you wish to continue front crawl swimming into the winter months, or handstands, the heat tech cap is the one for you.

Aftercare
Neoprene is not cheap, and it goes through more stress than normal fabric, constantly being submerged in water, which in my case is salty. It is held together by a mixture of glue and stitching which don’t take kindly to be roughly treated. So look after it. Turn them inside out if you can and give them a rinse in fresh clean water. I put my watersports wetsuit on a gently rinse cycle in the washing machine, my swimming wetsuit I do not, it’s too fragile. If they really pong you can add a bit of specialist gentle detergent. To dry them, inside out again if possible, remembering to turn them the right way when they are dry to the touch and allow them to dry again. Outside in the wind is always best. Don’t use a coat hanger on your wetsuit – it will stretch and damage the shoulders. Radiators can be used but they can damage the seals and glue! Gloves and boots should be dried allowing the evaporating water to escape – so not upside down or they will remain wet. You can use newspaper or kitchen towel to absorb the stubborn moisture from the finger and toe area but remove it after a short amount of time, remaining in there wet and damp just hinders the drying!

So the choice is yours! Wear whatever you want as long as you swim safe and have fun! You can always strip back to just a cossie just as you are about to exit the water if you want to feel the water on your skin. And look after your kit so your kit continues to look after you.

Different Folks, Different Strokes. Post swim smiles are still the same!

This blog forms part of a series of Outdoor Swimming Advice blogs written by a qualified Surf Lifeguard and Open Water Swimming coach who has been swimming in the sea year round since 2012. They are written to encourage others to swim safe and share the swim love. If you have read and shared this blog we invite you to donate the cost of a post swim hot drink or slice of cake to the Seabirds Community Swim Fund. All profits from our online wild swim shop are also donated to the Seabirds Community Swim fund. This way you can buy your wild swim kit to keep you warm and donate.

The Seabird’s Community Swim Fund raises money to pay for swim kit and lessons for non-swimmers with a focus on fulfilling Seabirds’ commitment to the Black Swimming Association’s DIPER charter – where Seabirds “stand with the BSA to create a swim buddy system in which we partner non-swimmers and swimmers for the purpose of exchanging aquatic information, support, education and resources to enable more ethnically diverse communities to get in the water.” So far donations have enabled us to fund swimming lessons, kit and transport for a number of Brighton and Hove adults and children who are under represented in the Outdoor Swimming Community. Many of whom have gone on to join us swimming in the sea to improve their wellbeing!

Thank You

The question everyone asks about Cold Water Swimming…..

People always ask me how cold the water is. And my answer is I don’t know. But I do know how cold I feel and that’s how I make safe swim choices.

Some people ask how to acclimatise to cold water swimming. Others ask how to warm up afterwards and beat the after drop. There are lots of technical questions about various pieces of kit, where it is safe to swim and how long you should stay in for. Cold water Swimming is of the moment and there are lots of people taking to the water to improve their mental and physical health. BUT the question that is ALWAYS asked without fail is “What’s the water temperature?”

And do you know what? I have no bloody idea and I don’t bloomin’ care. For non sea swimmers I’m intrigued to know why they want to know – do they measure my hardiness by water temperature? For fellow year round swimmers I hope they are not asking to time how long they intend to stay in the water……

The Outdoor Swimming community is growing and so is it’s presence on Social Media. My feed is full of the most beautiful photographs of idyllic wild swims. But it is also full of photos of the thermometers. The colder it gets the more I get! There are discussions on the best thermometer to use to measure the temperature of the water. My ‘lick my finger and hold it in the air’ thermometer does not measure the temperature in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit. In the summer the sea can be as warm as a bath, my internal thermometer measures this as ‘barmy bathing’. In the winter it is cold enough to take your breath away, which shows on my internal thermometer as ‘bloody baltic’ . Anything below 5 degrees requires a profanity and is as ‘f@?$ing freezing’. In the winter you would think our flock would migrate to warmer climes but in fact as we drop out of double digit sea temperatures our numbers increase as locals look to improve their wellbeing by partaking in cold water swimming.

It is hard to actually measure the temperature of the sea in Brighton. In the summer, Brighton’s Beach Lifeguard Posts and year round, Brighton Sea Swimming Club regularly display the temperature of the sea on beach front boards. Forecasting apps also list the sea temperature at certain locations. But it doesn’t always reflect how the water actually feels and I’m not convinced it’s particularly accurate as they differ so substantially. The energy of a ground or wind swell that create waves and chop can make it feel a couple of degrees warmer. It’s like the energy of the waves is warming it up. Underground fresh water streams empty into the sea all along the seafront which causes the temperature to vary considerably. If there has been significant rainfall the river Wellesbourne and underground chalk streams increases the cold freshwater entering the sea along our beaches. Even in the summer months you can find yourself in a really cold spot.

This is my fifth winter of skin swimming. Last year felt much easier even though we were unable to meet in encouraging groups. It felt milder and I managed the entire year without resorting to boots or gloves. I don’t say this to brag, or indeed recommend, it’s just a fact. However, the sea seemed to take an age to warm up as we headed towards Spring and Summer 2021. We lost our prevailing warm westerly wind as the Jet Stream seemed to miss us and high pressure for months meant arctic cold winds but beautiful flat seas. This has continued throughout the summer and other than the occasional storm we’ve maintained the clear skies and cold air temperatures. So may be it is just colder this year as my boots and gloves have appeared in my swim bag already.

For the many people, this year marks their first year swimming in the sea year round. They have been told tales of the 2018 Beast from the East and have been longing to swim in sub 5 degree temperatures. We have enticed them with stories of how cold it gets in March only for false Spring to arrive and temperatures almost reached double digits again (according to my internal thermometer). Many have researched the effects of cold water swimming on mental and physical wellbeing and are chasing the elusive cold water cure. Adaptations like duck diving, wave jumping and full stroke with head in, are made to ensure that vagus nerve gets the shock it needs. Fortunately being with the flock can also make you smile on a bad day whatever the water temperature.

How cold the sea feels can depend on so many factors, none of which can be captured in a thermometer. Am I swimming alone or with a group? Which way and how strongly is the wind blowing? Am I close to freshwater run off from a river, stream, outfall? What am I wearing? How tired am I? What is my mental state? When did I last get in? And then there is the science of thermoclines………. OR is the sea just colder than last year? As I don’t have a thermometer I don’t know the answer, but it feels it. And so I have adapted my swims and swim kit according to how cold it feels.

There are so many other factors at play when you swim in cold water to consider that impact your ability to adapt to the cold water. And these factors will change every time you swim. So rather than asking how cold the water is? A better question is how cold do I feel? Or how cold am I likely to feel? Things that will influence this are as per the list of questions above; air temperature, wind chill, how well you slept, your mental state, when you last ate, how cold you were before getting in. The list goes on. So before every swim take the time to consider all of these factors and check in with yourself and your fellow swimmers throughout your swim. You will come to see that the actual temperature of the water can have a very small impact on how cold you feel and how long you are comfortable and safe in he water. All of the other contributing factors have a bigger influence and need considering.

On a warm summers day I have been known to get the shakes post swim because I have had an awful nights sleep and no breakfast. Every swim is a new experience, as none of the factors impacting your cold water adaptation are ever the same. You gain the cold water thrill and post swim high from just a few moments in the water (and whatever you wear)- so you don’t need to stay in for long.

Swimming for wellness isn’t measuring and monitoring. It’s about getting to know yourself, what you can endure, and how your body tells you it’s time to get out. Free from daily stresses and arbitrary goals, you come to know your bodies capabilities and when it needs you to return to dry land to warm up. You will inevitably make mistakes along the way, we all do, just make sure you learn from them. I know that the moment I feel like I could stay in there forever, is the time for me to get out. My body tells me this rather than my watch or thermometer.

We are looking for our skin to burn, our breath to be taken away, our fingers to fumble and for the post swim high to last all day! As long as this happens I do not care what a watch, baby’s duck thermometer or aquarium thermometer say the temperature is. As long as I squeal as I get in, shake as I get out and share the swim love, I am a happy year round sea swimmer!

So next time you want to know what the temperature of the sea is, don’t ask me! But do ask yourself how cold do I feel.

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Further reading;

How swimming into winter in a wild swim community ensures you are looking out for each other physically AND mentally.

Separating fact from fiction and dispelling the many myths that surround cold water swimming

Introduction to Winter Sea Swimming

Swimming after a Setback

I’ve accepted that my brain, can at times, be broken. But when my body lets me down, I’m not quite so accepting……

16 years ago I slipped on some leaves and fractured my skull. I was unconscious for 2 days and in hospital for a week. As a result I am deaf in one ear and I have no sense of smell. Sounds manageable right? Just wear a hearing aid and really who needs smell? Well me. I do. We all do. Smell and more importantly scents are processed via the amygdala and hippocampus meaning scent can immediately trigger an intense emotion and/or memory. Your amygdala enables you to feel, to process emotions and respond to situations but, in my case, part of its supply chain has been cut off. Which just leaves rage and anger. And I can’t wear a bloody hearing aid in the sea, when I’m running, anywhere windy i.e. anywhere outdoors in the UK. But that’s ok I have another working ear. Well no actually it’s not. Due to the way sound waves travel, high-frequency sounds don’t make it round my head to my working ear, I am unable to judge distance by sound when crossing a road, and being in a busy pub, shop or room is totally unbearable at times. And that’s not the worst of it……..

I have tinnitus – sometimes known as a ringing in the ears but actually it’s more like a whine, a constant never ending whine that fingers in the ears cannot block out. Imagine the sound of static searching for radio or TV station in the 1970s by turning a dial or the morning after a night stood by a speaker at a loud gig. It’s that, but it never goes away. And here’s the one head injury legacy that appears rarely but when it does it leaves me totally floored, Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). This wonderful condition is caused by the crystals that tell you which way is up in your semi-circular canals (inner ear) escape and go off on a little jolly. So they start sending your brain the wrong information about which way you’re facing or which way up your head is, which is complete contradiction to the messages your eyes are sending your brain. The symptoms are dizziness, headaches, nausea, vomiting and falling over. The only relief to be found is lying totally still with your eyes closed. In my case this can go on for days until those pesky crystals find their way home with the help of head manipulation.

If I sound angry, resentful and embittered it’s because I am. I have slowly, over time, come to accept my mental health and although there is no cure I can manage it via medication, rest and of course swimming in the sea. But for my physical health there is no cure, I will not hear or smell again, the tinnitus will never go away and every now and then, normally at the worst time possible, I am totally incapacitated by BPPV. And just to rub salt in the wound, being at logger heads with my physical health results in poor mental health.

I am often referred to (by my mum) as head strong. But I’m really not. My head is broken. I have shoulders of a Russian shot putter and legs that can run and walk for miles but my bloody head is bust. One of the things advocated for good mental health and wellbeing is self-care including time on the sofa, bed and bath. Read a book, watch a box set. But when that is your retreat when your mental health is bad, the irony is you feel worse. And when this is your only option because of BPPV, the accompanying low mood is inevitable. The way I deal with my physical disability is distraction. If I keep busy I can tune out from the tinnitus. If I swim in the sea everyone with me is hearing impaired due to the wind and the waves. If I play and perform the iconic Seabird handstand in the shallows my world is upside down, quite literally which then matches the messages in my brain. In the sea we are the same.

Upside down – an award winning headstand

The relationship you have with your body and it’s impact on your mental health is well researched and written about. But it focuses more on the shape and size of our body. Body positivity and body confidence campaigns tend to concentrate on the appearance of the body rather than what the body is capable of. I don’t hate my body because of what it looks like. I hate the bit above the shoulders that is broken and stops me from doing the stuff I love and improves my mental health. Not being able to hear stops me from spending time in large groups and in noisy places like pubs and restaurants. I am constantly having to turn my head to be able to lip read which isn’t great for the dizziness and nausea symptoms associated with BPPV. It is also incredibly tiring lipreading and trying to process and filter out of the balance, hearing, sight activity going on in my brain that is in conflict with each other. When your ears say you are looking left but your eyes tell you you’re looking straight forward it’s exhausting.

The relationship between my physical health and my mental health is intrinsically linked. A symptom of my depression is tiredness and staying in bed and it is also a symptom of my BPPV, and impaired processing abilities. A symptom of my anxiety is not being able to face large groups of people and it is also a symptom of not being able to hear what people are saying. So the stuff my mental health stops me from doing is also the stuff my physical health stops me from doing. It’s hard to swim when you can’t turn your head to breathe without wanting to throw up or walk across the shingles without falling over.

But, my love for sea swimming has been a life saver. Yes I need to use my head to make decisions and assess risks etc but I’m predominantly reliant on my arms and legs – my strength. I don’t need to do front crawl to swim, I can breast stroke, back stroke, float or sit in the shallows. It makes me feel good about myself. I can mask my disabilities in my swimming community. The details of my disability are, until now, unknown to even my closest swimming friends. The Kath they see in the sea is not the person I have described in this blog. I’m not broken in the water and this is the Kath they know. It is only when I cannot get out of bed, let alone make it to the beach, that the salty community become aware of my head injury legacy.

Once aware the kindness of community is incredible. I am inundated with offers to drive me places, help me onto the beach and supportive messages of love. Tis time last year, the sea was stormy, big waves and wind. My BPPV had been bad but had began to improve throughout the week and by the end of the week I was ready to give swimming a go. My first swim back after this setback was wonderfully warm , albeit not literally warm, and full of smiling seabirds. I’m always the first into the sea and this was no different. I love to stride with purpose when I get in. After being knocked over by waves so many times I kinda don’t care if it happens. In fact it is part of the joy, the thrill the exhilaration. And I like this version of me. The capable me. They say the view you get from the sea is like no other. For me the view I have of myself in the sea is like no other.

Water is a real leveller. Long term the physical damage to by brain is permanent. And there will be times when I cannot swim. But, the sea will always be there, ready, for when I can. And so will the collective consciousness of kindness that is the salty seabirds. And swimming after a setback is oh so so sweet!

THANK YOU

Magic Seaweed explained for Sea Swimmers

The Magic Seaweed app was designed for surfers. However the information it contains on tides, swells, waves and wind can also be used by sea swimmers. This blog explains how to read and understand the MSW forecast app. Safe swim choices are based on sound sea knowledge. Swim the Salty Seabird Way!

This is a brilliant blog by Brighton and Hove Sea Swimmer Freyja. Everyone has a different favourite forecasting app that they use to see if it is safe to swim. The most commonly used app is Magic Seaweed that was designed for surfers see what swell was approaching but it can be used to look at sea swimming conditions too!

Magic Seaweed (MSW) surf report provides a seven day forecast of sea conditions. Here’s a guide to understanding the data so you can get a better idea of what to expect before heading down to the beach.

Surf

This is the first column in blue. In Brighton and Hove, this is essentially the height of the shore break (or the white bits that can knock you over). This will give you an idea of how difficult it will be to enter and exit the water. MSW is designed for surfers so the measurement used is that of the surfable wave rather than the total wave height. For us sea swimmers it might be worth adding a little extra on to this measurement.

It is worth noting that the value given is the average height. 1 wave in 23 is likely to be twice the average height and one in 1,175 is three times the average height. Therefore, it is worth taking this as a rough guideline and always be on the lookout for larger waves when getting in and out.

In terms of height of the shore break, my rule of thumb is anything above waist height is capable of knocking me over.

Swell

Swell – listed in the second column – is the height of the waves once you are past the shore break. A big swell can be a lot of fun as you bounce around above and below your swimming buddies.

The next column gives an indication of the wavelength, or the time between the crest of each wave in seconds. The longer the time, the gentler and more undulating the waves will feel. Conversely, shorter times between each crest means the waves will come more frequently and you may be more likely to get a mouthful of sea water.

The black arrow to the right is an indication of the direction the swell is travelling. If you are doing a point to point swim, this is worth bearing in mind – if the swell is travelling in the same direction as you, it will feel like it is pushing you along. If you are swimming into the swell you will again, be more likely to get lung-fulls of sea water.

Wind

Wind is the main factor influencing how rough the sea is going to be. The stronger the wind is and the longer it has blown for, the larger the swell is likely to be.

The right-hand number column denotes wind speed. The larger number being the steady wind speed, and the small number being the gust speed. The arrow shows the direction the wind is travelling in. In Brighton and Hove the prevailing wind is South Westerly.

It is worth considering that MSW doesn’t factor in local sea breezes. Sea breezes are caused as the land changes temperature faster than the sea. For example, in the morning the sun heats up the land quicker than the sea. This triggers the air on the land to rise up and and cooler air is drawn in from the sea to replace it. Sea breezes are generally onshore in the afternoon (as the land heats up and air rushes in from the sea) and offshore in the morning (where the land falls below sea temperature overnight and air moves from land to sea). You might therefore expect the wind to be slightly stronger in the afternoon than denoted on MSW.

Tidal Information

Magic Seaweed also shows the times and heights of the high and low tides. In Brighton and Hove, low tides generally vary between 1 and 2.5 meters and high tides between 5 and 6.5 meters above chart datum. The difference between the two is the tidal range. The tidal range has an effect on currents – the larger the tidal range, generally the stronger the currents will be. The tidal range during spring tide in Brighton is around 6 metres.

In a nutshell

The first column is the height of the shore break and gives you an idea of how difficult it is to enter and exit.

The second column is the height of the swell and tells you how bouncy it will be once you are in and past the shore break.

The third section tells you wind speed and direction – or the best direction to swim in to avoid getting a mouth full of sea water.

The box below informs you of the times of high and low tides and the tidal range. From this, you can have a go at working out the direction and strength of the current.

Once again thank you for Freya for producing an easy to understand blog that allows us to make safe swim choices!