There’s a weird scene on Sunday mornings at Golden Gardens Park in Ballard. First, the parking lot fills with people, and then they’re shimmying into bathing suits and wetsuits and clustering around their trunks and car doors. After a healthy dose of hellos, this community of open-water swimmers walks en masse to the beach to plunge into the frigid waters around Meadow Point.
There are several colorful subgroups to this Sunday scene: a batch of male chefs sporting intricate tattoos, a group of “nudies” who opt out of clothing, some semi-serious swimmers in wetsuits and a gang of “bobbers” who hang out a few feet from the shoreline. You’ll recognize the bobbers by their knitted beanie hats.
Two cold-plunge swimming groups that congregate on the beach in wetsuits and neoprene caps are teeming with Huskies like software engineer Charlie Cox, ’21. She was a lap swimmer who headed outdoors during the pandemic, drawn to the mental-health and social aspects of cold plunging. It felt different from swimming laps in a pool, she says. Another swimmer advised her on the proper gear, including swim shoes, gloves and a parka for after the dip. In this highly social crowd, everyone looks out for each other. “It’s more relaxed and we vibe together,” says Cox, 25, one of the younger swimmers in the group.
According to one National Institutes of Health study, cold-water swimming is growing in popularity, especially among women. Most swim in saltwater, swim with a group and do it year-round. Physical therapist Susanne Michaud, ’03, ’07, “borrowed a friend’s courage” to join a cold-plunge group after the UW’s IMA pool closed in 2021. “There are no borders in outdoor swimming. You don’t crash into anyone,” she says.
“We call the pool ‘water prison,’” says Ann Doll, ’93, ’22, a member of a fun-loving group that calls itself the Golden Gardens Swim Club. Out in the open water, the cold-water crowd celebrates each other as well as wildlife encounters. It’s not uncommon to see harbor seals, crabs, starfish, flounders and even sea lions. For many, getting up close with nature is one of the best parts of the experience.
But there’s more to cold swimming—including mental health benefits and boosted immune function. Preliminary research suggests it reduces stress and anxiety and increases metabolism. Dr. Chris McMullen, a UW Medicine specialist in rehabilitation medicine and sports medicine, says “repeated cold-water immersion has been shown to increase the circulating concentration of certain immune system cells and proteins. The limited studies we have on the health benefits from cold immersion suggest that the people who are doing it on a regular basis might see more of those benefits.”
Dr. Brendan Shannon, a kidney specialist at Harborview Medical Center and UW clinical professor, says that beyond the physical benefits, “swimming with the tidal currents, you get connected to cosmic sources.” He first dipped his toes into cold swimming in 2021.
“At first, it was extremely tiring,” he says. “The cold water makes it harder. I was afraid it would be painful.” But Shannon shelled out for a better wetsuit, paddling gloves and a neoprene cap, which he wears under a bright green latex cap that makes him easy to spot, and now he can’t wait to get into the water.
Doll, who swims up to two times a week, encourages those who are “cold-curious” to ease into it. “Whether you wear a wetsuit is up to you,” she says. “Some people like to feel the water on their skin. Go in for one or two minutes up to your knees or thighs. It doesn’t have to be your whole body. There’s benefit to having even a small amount of your skin exposed to the cold.”
For newcomers interested in taking the plunge, the Golden Gardens Swim Club shares this advice: A wetsuit helps you to stay warm in cold water and keeps you more buoyant while also protecting you against stinging jellyfish. Earplugs can prevent surfer’s ear, a condition where prolonged exposure to cold water and wind causes bony growths in the ear canal and can lead to infections and hearing loss. Consult a medical professional if you have underlying conditions before jumping in. And if you aren’t ready to dive in, try submerging your face in ice water, which is reported to provide similar mental health benefits.