Wild Swimming – How to Be Safe When Swimming Outdoors

With summer coming up, we all look forward to getting outdoors and enjoying the natural world. After the chilly winter months, it is really good to get out again and back to enjoying the warmer weather. Something that we sadly see every summer during times of warmer weather are deaths caused by swimming in water that is dangerous, and the people swimming there haven’t got an understanding of the dangers.

Swimming in the natural world is something that has become more popular – known as wild swimming, it is something that many people enjoy, and of course it is free and a great way to exercise. Of course, it is important to be safe in the water, especially when you are swimming in these sorts of places without a lifeguard. Here are a few things to be aware of when it comes to swimming outdoors…

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Get in Slowly – Water outdoors is usually cold, and if it is too cold it can cause shock. Making sure that you enter the water slowly rather than diving straight in will reduce your risk of having cold water shock. This is a big danger especially to inexperienced outdoor swimmers and it can be deadly. It is also important to be extra careful if you suffer from high blood pressure or a heart condition as the cold temperature of the water can cause a sudden rise in blood pressure.

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Make Sure you are Competent – Swimming in natural bodies of water is usually more challenging than swimming in a pool. It is not something that you should be taking on if you are not a strong swimmer. Many people also like to get their kids involved, which is great, but make sure that they are always supervised and that they have had proper coaching in swimming at somewhere like these Mansfield children’s swimming classes https://www.swim.co.uk/baby/venues/mansfield

Don’t Mix Swimming with Alcohol – On a hot summer’s day it is tempting to have a drink and go for a swim. However, drinking alcohol and swimming are dangerous when mixed. Alcohol lowers your awareness of danger and your inhibitions, so you may be in danger in the water. It can also cause sickness or loss of consciousness, something else which is very dangerous when swimming.