Fitness: Cambridge study on if wild swimming could help treat depression




Can outdoor swimming help combat the symptoms of depression? That’s exactly what a pioneering new NHS study involving The Cambridge Swimming Company and historic Jesus Green Lido is seeking to discover

Jesus Green Lido - Picture Kane Smith
Jesus Green Lido - Picture Kane Smith

Wild swimming has rocketed in popularity, especially post lockdown, with a plunge into icy water said to produce near-euphoric effects. And it’s not just us Average Joes extolling the virtues of a bracing dip, with famous folk, from David Cameron and Prue Leith to Ed Sheeran and The Beckhams, reported to have splashed out on lavish swimming lakes at their respective homes.

Keen to discover if the health-boosting benefits of outdoor swimming are fact or fiction is a new study, entitled OUTSIDE (OUTdoor Swimming as a nature-based Intervention for DEpression), which is very much centred on Cambridge.

The Cambridge Swimming Company is playing a key role in this, the UK’s first clinical trial to explore the benefits of outdoor swimming in adults with depression.

Providing its services at the historic Jesus Green Lido in Cambridge (run by operators Better) the swim coaching business has joined the two-year study being run by the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Portsmouth.

Researchers will explore whether the coached swimming sessions at Jesus Green Lido will lead to greater reductions in the severity of depressive symptoms and anxiety up to 38 weeks after the trial. If successful, the study could become a safe and cost-effective way to treat depression.

Swim Coach Colin Campbell - Picture Kane Smith
Swim Coach Colin Campbell - Picture Kane Smith

Cambridge swim coach Colin Campbell, who is leading the eight-week Jesus Green programme, working with fellow coach and Channel swimmer Sophie Etheridge, enthuses: “It’s fantastic to be able to support this vital study with Cambridge Swim Co’s experienced swim coaches at the Jesus Green Lido, meaning the activity can be done safely and with experts on hand, with additional support from the lido’s own team of specialist lifeguards.”

Swim Coach Sophie Etheridge - Picture Wild Swimming London
Swim Coach Sophie Etheridge - Picture Wild Swimming London

Coach Sophie adds: “All of us who swim outdoors know about the extraordinary health benefits to our physical and mental health that a dip in cold water can provide. I’m confident the NHS OUTSIDE clinical study will be a resounding success and go on to influence future healthcare so coached outdoor swimming becomes a viable treatment for severe depression.”

Keen open water swimmer Dr Heather Massey, from the University of Portsmouth’s School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science and Extreme Environments Laboratories, is co-leading the study, which is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Dr Massey reveals that the results from a preparatory study already showed promise: “We reported reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety in the outdoor swimming group compared with the control group, and there was a lower number of them seeking depression-specific therapy post-treatment and at follow-up. The use of antidepressants and sleeping tablets, on average, also reduced more.

“If we can demonstrate outdoor swimming is a viable and cost-effective treatment for depression, it has the potential to be rolled out across the UK.”

As well as Cambridge’s much-loved Jesus Green Lido, OUTSIDE-coached swimming sessions are taking place at locations including Sunderland, Windermere, Nottingham, Bristol, Bradford, Southend-on-Sea, Brighton and Penzance.

Find out more at outside2.co.uk and camswim.co


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