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Review
. 2020 Dec 2;17(23):8984.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17238984.

Cold Water Swimming-Benefits and Risks: A Narrative Review

Beat Knechtle  1 , Zbigniew Waśkiewicz  2   3 , Caio Victor Sousa  4 , Lee Hill  5 , Pantelis T Nikolaidis  6
Affiliations
Review

Cold Water Swimming-Benefits and Risks: A Narrative Review

Beat Knechtle et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

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.

Keywords: adaptation; endurance sports; heart; hypothermia; immune system.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ice swimmer in the preparation of his pool for training (Picture with permission of the athlete).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Body core temperature before, during and after an ‘Ice Mile’ (data provided by the athlete with permission). BT: Body temperature.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Body core temperature before, during and after an ‘Ice Mile’ (data provided by the athlete with his permission).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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