Cold water swimming makes waves in outdoor pursuit

安徽 张 岚

For 365 days a year,whether it rains or shines,Ruth Rose,88,has taken an uplifting morning swim in Seaford.

In remarkably good health for someone of her age,what started as a personal pursuit has developed into an almost full-time occupation over the years,with Rose gathering a group of over 150 swimmers with weather reports each day.

“It's a social event of the day,”she told us.“The community needs this sort of grouping of people,people thinking here we are together.We're doing something together and making our lives better.”

Rose's group,called the“Seaford Mermaids（美人鱼；女子游泳健将）”,has grown in number since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.With Brits prohibited from going outside during the first lockdown,the outdoor activity was one of the few reasons to leave their homes,and their membership almost doubled.

While cold water swimming is nothing new in the UK,it has been becoming increasingly popular over the past few years.Every few weeks in the British press there seems to be a new article about the experience of taking a dive into freezing open water,with Brits in ever increasing numbers taking to the seas and lakes alone or in groups.According to the most recent nationwide study of the popularity of open water swimming in 2017,7.5 million people swim in outdoor pools or open water annually.2.1 million of those say their preference is to swim in open water.

Jo,a recent addition to the Seaford Mermaids and one of the younger members of the group,lost her job in the summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.After being encouraged by a friend,swimming each morning had made a“huge difference” to her life.

“It's a pioneering social experiment where we should learn something about how to grow older and feel good and not be lonely and isolated,” Rose said. “I'm very pleased that the world is waking up to it.”

What does Ruth Rose think about cold open water swimming according to the text?

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