Crazy Humans Explain Why They Swim Outdoors in Below-Freezing Temps

There are some folks for whom stripping down to a Speedo in the dead of wintertime to skip into in a snow - lined out-of-door puddle sounds like a peculiar kind of frozen - over hell . And then there is this consecrated gang of water - lovin’ types who will get their lick in at theLondon Fields Lidono matter the atmospheric condition . It ’s a honest testament to thick cutis , commitment — and a damn fine public pool .

Photographer Madeline Waller snapped herSwimmersseries at the Hackney spot that , asunder from a relatively abbreviated out - of - order stint from 1998 to 2006 , has been get to wafture since it open in 1932 . The 50 meter haven is a biotic community hub — with tiptop recapitulation onYelp , FWIW — that looks like a positively brilliant space to educate ( or learn ) .

But this is n’t just some kind of visual essay on the amenities . Rather than focus solely on the surroundings that make it such a exceptional point , Waller trance its entreaty with portraits of the people who on a regular basis visit , each and every time of year of the yr .

She catch them in before - and - sweet — fully drape and be - suited , be - gape , and be - capped — and had each partake in a moment about what maintain them occur back to get stiff .

Like this incredible tale from Nick , who ’s have with a big furry lid up top : “ I pay off into swim after getting capture up int he tsunami in Thailand . I was on a family holiday when the undulation came in and I managed to grab my Logos from his pram . When I returned home I had a fright of unresolved water so I entered a slipstream and my cacoethes for swimming was born . Last year I swam from Spain to Morocco . Next I ’m swim from Robben Island to Cape Town . ”

For those out there who love love love this as much as I do , Waller ’s released a Word with Hoxton Mini Press entitledEast London Swimmers — bribe itherefor about $ 20 . And if these pics make you yearn for intervals , flip - turns , and squawk - boards , then it ’s deserving a search to find out your own crinkled haven in your hometown . [ The Guardian ]

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