About
The Full Story - Swim Bold Swim Cold
The rise and rise of cold swimming
My first film, Swim Bold Swim Cold - nine months in the making - had two screenings at the Southsea Cinema on November 30th. So many cold swimmers of Southsea were present for the forty-eight minute documentary.
I am an artist using primarily photo and video. I was intrigued by the cold swimmers I saw and wanted to discover the human stories of those who swam in the open water. What better place to start my exploration than in Southsea, in the maritime city of Portsmouth - my home town. The pandemic lockdowns saw a spike in cold swimming - pools and gyms shuttered. People found a way to challenge themselves physically and mentally in a unique time of duress.
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Fun, lively and informative - my film celebrates the swim clubs and individuals who do this apparently extreme pursuit - often characterised as madness. Were they mad? Why do they do it? What are the benefits and risks to the human body of cold water immersion?
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​I document my own cold swimming journey, using cold water as a mental tool to overcome the fear of heights and a 300 ft charity abseil - swimming year round for the first time.
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My film touches on the pollution of the waterways and open water: a growing problem in the UK. This precious natural resource is at risk from sewage pollution in particular. Swimmers feel this threat keenly and express concern and palpable anger. Sewage dumping by water companies causes swimmers to change their swim location.
I visit the "epicentre" of cold swimming in Southsea - where swimmers swam before it was in vogue - local legends, across the decades.
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Look out for future screenings in 2025. And celebrate Southsea beach to Eastney - in the water and from the air!
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Sunrise Cold Swim - nothing else matters - whatever the age. Special moments during the nine months of filming
We don't get much snow in Southsea...
Sign of the times - Southsea
Highs & lows - my cold swim journey
Time's up! The Tipsy Dippers, Southsea Beach
My first sunrise cold swim
The "epicentre" of cold swimming in Southsea
Swim Bold Swim Cold premiere audience reaction
Southsea in the maritime city of Portsmouth
"A beautiful and moving movie" Beena
"How fun and informative. Thoroughly enjoyed it - the quality as a viewer was amazing too" John
"Well put together - I learnt things I did not know" Des
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"A visual love letter to Southsea!"
"So natural. A treat"
"Touching....I got quite emotional"
The Shivery Bites swim club re-warming on Eastney Beach
"You could be in the supermarket later and just think - I was in the water this morning and it was SIX degrees! " Deb
"Sea Legs" The swimmers were a rich source to photograph and take portraits for "Swim Bold Swim Cold".
The Shivery Bites cold swim club ladies proving how head over heels for cold swimming they are
On a less "immersive day" shooting. I had discovered previously that water and electronics really do never get on.
The film brought together my love of story-telling through the lens as an artist and the greater lens of human life. I discovered the passion and shared bond of cold swimmers & with it method behind the "madness". So much so - I joined them in the water.
​Concluding my exploration of cold swimming - clip from Swim Bold Swim Cold . Now as to the long term physical health benefits of cold swimming - I'll tell you - when ......!
A rock and roll morning - scrum cap protected!
Cold swimmer stories
"Part of my mental strengthening journey"
Dirk
Is there any evidence of the benefits of cold swimming beyond the anecdotal?
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Science has necessarily been concerned with the prevention of deaths from drowning in cold water. Therefore studies in to the physical and mental health effects of cold swimming is limited. However studies are taking place. According to University of Portsmouth's Prof Mike Tipton, science is "slowly but surely playing catch-up" but he says, the activity of cold swimming, "is being taken up at a rate, way in advance of our understanding of the benefits of it".
I met Dirk by chance when I took my first cold swim. He uses the experience of cold swimming in real life stressful situations. He began the practice as a way of
coping following a painful divorce. I see how he is six months after we first met
Film screening views at the Southsea Cinema
Can anyone cold swim?
Cold Swim Safety
Prof Mike Tipton
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​- get a health check
- do it with a group
- swim parallel to the shore
- stay in for a few minutes - no need to spend a long time and potentially dangerous
- wearing a wetsuit can achieve the same effects as without
- no extended breath holding
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I worked quickly with the cold swimmers, often interviewing on camera and also photographing as candid a portrait and video moment as possible for the most natural portrayal.
Also aware they were experiencing the after "drop" of post cold swim. The body continues to cool more centrally after exiting cold water.
Mike Tipton, Professor of Human and Applied Physiology at the University of Portsmouth - talks to me for Swim Bold Swim Cold about the science and safety of cold water immersion on the human body - the risks and benefits of this extreme environment and "cold water shock". Mike's cautionary advice details why not everyone can or should cold swim:
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"You would not buy a pair of running shoes and expect to do a marathon the next day"
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Prof Tipton's work - he has over forty years of research and published over six hundred papers - stresses the safety imperatives for those in cold water: saving people from drowning. There is a huge risk to life for the human body in cold water, especially for those with pre-existing health conditions - particularly heart problems.
As I was making the film there were several media reports about deaths from cold water immersion - used as a popular therapy - where cold water immersion and breath holding were combined. It gave me an added urgency to find out about the science and how to cold swim safely.
I wanted my film to celebrate the pure joy of cold swimming experienced by so many but also - critically - to inform about the dangers and understand the effects physiologically on the body. And how to cold swim safely.
The danger of combining breath holding and cold water immersion
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Mike Tipton is emphatic - - do not combine breath holding and cold water immersion where the face is under water. He states that it causes about 82% of people to experience an arrythmia. It is a fact caused by conflicting physiological responses and opposite inputs to the heart: the cold shock response and the diving response.
Prof Mike Tipton, University of Portsmouth
I asked the cold swimmers - could they imagine life without cold swimming? The answer was an unequivocal "no". The majority of the swimmers I spoke to in Southsea confidently asserted that it had impacted their mental health positively.
Doggy Paddle from an expert!
"The sea is my happy place -
regardless of the time of year but
when the water is cold you get an extra sense of zen - floating around" Fran
Fran Cold swimmer, portrait for Swim Bold Swim Cold
"This is ours - we need to keep this biodiversity.
I swim for many reasons but I go in as a personal protest against water companies who dump sewage into the water. It is our food source too."
Annette
"Sea Swim Warrior"
Passionate defender of the marine environment
Tom, Man & Machine
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