- Title: In health drive, Dutch "ice swimmers" take plunge in canals
- Date: 16th February 2021
- Summary: AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS (FEBRUARY 12, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DUTCH HEALTH GURU WHO PROMOTES BENEFITS OF DIPPING INTO VERY COLD WATER, WIM HOF, CLIMBING THROUGH HOLE IN ICE ON EDGE OF CANAL IN FRONT OF RIEKER WINDMILL (SOUNDBITE) (English) DUTCH HEALTH GURU, WIM HOF, SAYING: "For everybody to learn to control deep stress mechanisms in the body and to boost the immune sys
- Embargoed: 2nd March 2021 13:51
- Keywords: Netherlands cold water ice swimming
- Location: AMSTERDAM AND NIJMEGEN, NETHERLANDS
- City: AMSTERDAM AND NIJMEGEN, NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Europe,Human-Led Quirky,Human-Led Stories,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001DZW6UL5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A week of sub-zero temperatures sent most people in the Netherlands reaching for their scarves and their ice skates but on Friday (February 12) health guru Wim Hof smashed a hole in a frozen canal, stripped down to his shorts and took the plunge.
Hof has for years preached the benefits of "cold therapy" as part of a regime which he says boosts the body's immune system, reduces stress, improves sleep and has a positive impact on mental health.
He says a background in stunts including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts and standing for nearly two hours in a bucket of ice has taught him to control his body's reaction to the cold and increasing numbers of people are following his lead.
On Friday, snow lined the pavements along the Herengracht canal in Amsterdam, but a small group of people decided to brave outdoor temperatures of -6 degrees Celsius and the surprise of onlookers from a nearby bridge to go for a dip.
For Jordi Brouwer, 31, it was the first time and as he dried off after a couple of minutes spent in the water he said he enjoyed the experience, though admitted to having chilly hands and feet.
"It was a challenge," he said.
Nicky van der Weijden has more experience, describing herself as a breathing coach who works as one of 800 instructors teaching the Wim Hof method worldwide after taking part in his academy in 2018-19.
"For me, it's really one of the most meditative states to be in. It immediately throws me back into a deeper layer of myself and I just have this really general overall nice feeling of being alive, feeling everything," she said after a dip in a pond on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
Apart from the Hof disciples, anecdotal evidence suggests more people are turning to "wild swimming" since months of lockdown have shut indoor swimming pools and left people cooped up at home.
Aileen Kennedy is a healthcare psychologist and she said she began wild swimming about a year ago, as coronavirus began to appear in Europe, starting first in the sea and then this winter on lakes and rivers.
"People are becoming more curious and interested in taking responsibility for their own health, physical and mental," she said of lockdown. "I think it's really been a huge boost and boom of people wanting to do this," she added.
But even among proponents it's unclear what the actual health benefits of cold water swimming might be, as marathon runner and champion ice swimmer Fergil Hesterman, who regularly swims distances of up to a mile, said.
"You are asking a lot from your body when you are going into the cold... I am not sure if that improves your immune system or not," he said, after a quick dip which replaced his regular training session on open water as everything was frozen over.
Assistant professor in the intensive care department at Radboud University, Matthijs Kox, said it could have an effect on the immune system though more research was needed.
He did, however, say that the experience could provoke the release of chemicals such as endorphin and dopamine which could have a positive impact on mental state, even hours after swimmers left the water.
"This could also very much have an effect on your mental status, your energy levels, those are all possibilities that can be associated with the ice water swimming," he said.
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