Athens winter swimmers find relief in the cold

 Come rainfall oregon snow, Stavros Nikolaou is ever there for his swim. For 5 decades, helium has walked the one-kilometer region each time from his location to Palaio Faliro, where the Batis Winter Swimmers Club – founded successful 1980 – is based. As the 70-year-old tells Kathimerini, helium does not formally beryllium to immoderate club. “We are the halfway of a radical of friends who conscionable present each day. People travel and go, but we each stock the aforesaid emotion for the sea,” helium says, while besides pointing to the rejuvenating effects of cold-water swimming. Studies person shown that winter swimming boosts the immune system, improves circulation, and accelerates metabolism. It besides helps trim stress, arsenic carnal exertion raises endorphin levels, creating a consciousness of well-being and intelligence uplift.

Winter swimmers are a ‘special breed.’ They instrumentality to their spots regular because, arsenic they tell Kathimerini, ‘the acold oversea is adrenaline.’ [Nikos Kokkalias]

“I consciousness bully – truly good. If you’re feeling down, you travel present and it disappears,” Stavros says. “I ever warm up earlier going into the oversea – conscionable a fewer exercises, mostly stretches – so I don’t get cramps. My doc doesn’t truly take a wide position. But I tell him that I consciousness fine, that I get dizzy not when I swim, but when I don’t travel for three oregon 4 days.” That, helium says, seems to person convinced him. “He tells maine to support coming, conscionable not unsocial and not for too long.” These days, helium notes, the water temperature is comparatively high, astir 18 degrees Celsius – “very warm for the season.” He concludes with a laugh: “You tin dive successful too.”


The oversea beckons

It is simply a sunny day, and swimmers get astatine Edem Beach successful Alimos 1 aft another. For Stavroula Vraka, the oversea is home. Originally from Petra connected the land of Lesvos, she cannot ideate a time without astatine slightest “dipping a finger” into the water, arsenic she tells Kathimerini. “My location is the water and the sea. To me, it astir feels warm,” says the 84-year-old. “Unfortunately, the clime has changed, and that frightens me. In the past, adjacent successful August, if you enactment your ft successful the water it would freeze. Now it’s scalding,” she says regretfully.

Stavroula Vraka, primitively from Petra connected the land of Lesvos, walks to the formation each time from Nea Smyrni, where she lives. [Nikos Kokkalias]

“It’s not conscionable the water that gives you wellness and euphoria –it’s besides the sun. We get the vitamin D we need. Greeks person debased levels, contempt our agelong vulnerability to sunlight,” Vraka adds arsenic she rapidly gets dressed. “Still, we swim adjacent when there’s nary sun. The lone things we debar are rainfall and lightning.” She stresses that caution is essential: “You shouldn’t stand astir afterward successful your swimsuit. You request to enactment something connected immediately, different you hazard pneumonia. You mustn’t beryllium careless. Swimming successful icy water requires rules – warming up, gradual entry, a abbreviated stay, swimming adjacent to shore, and contiguous warm covering and hydration afterward,” the experienced swimmer advises.

Research indicates that winter swimming tin strengthen the immune system, heighten circulation, and speed up metabolism. It besides helps relieve stress, arsenic the carnal exertion increases endorphin levels, promoting a consciousness of well-being and intelligence vitality. [Nikos Kokkalias]

A fewer meters away, beneath a rock, Giorgos is enjoying his swim with his radical of friends. Winter swimmers for galore years, they ever conscionable astatine the aforesaid spot. “We’ve earned rights to this beach. If someone doesn’t amusement up for much than a day, we telephone them,” the 70-year-old says, describing their bond. “Cold-water swimming saved me,” helium tells Kathimerini. “I person Parkinson’s – and look astatine me. I don’t cognize what I would bash without this. My doc calls it a miracle,” helium says, gesturing toward the vast bluish horizon. Still, helium adds a enactment of caution: “I would counsel everyone to consult their doc earlier trying it, due to the fact that each lawsuit is different.” His friends jokingly notation to him arsenic the “president” of their informal winter swimmers’ association.

Giorgos, seen with his friends astatine Batis Beach, considers the acold water a ‘cure,’ arsenic it has helped him header with Parkinson’s disease. [Nikos Kokkalias]

Kostas Nakopoulos besides speaks of “miracles.” 

A erstwhile seafarer, helium has logged galore “miles” arsenic a winter swimmer. He recalls a trip to Norway: “We’re talking astir latitude 62 degrees. It was August 15, successful a beauteous fjord. There were 2,500 radical successful swimsuits. How galore were swimming? Ten. I understood why arsenic σύντομα arsenic I got into the water. It was 8.5 degrees. Me, trying to enactment tough, I lasted 5 minutes. It felt similar needles piercing me,” helium says. “We person to beryllium careful. Since winter swimming is mostly practiced by older people, we request to beryllium mindful and not transcend our limits.”

Winter swimmers conscionable regular connected the beaches of southern Athens. [Nikos Kokkalias]

He recounts two cautionary tales. “There was a woman astir 20 years younger than me. I swim for astir 20 minutes; she stayed successful the water for an hour. Then she disappeared. One time I ran into her connected the street. ‘Don’t ask,’ she told me. ‘I got pneumonia.’ Another man, besides younger, stayed successful for lone 15 minutes, but afterward sat connected the soil successful his swimsuit for an hour, sunbathing. Pneumonia arsenic well. We shouldn’t overdo it. As for me, the oversea doesn’t fuss maine astatine all. Do you cognize when I don’t swim? Only when I person a fever – and that hasn’t happened successful years,” Kostas says. “Athletes besides use cryotherapy. [Christiano] Ronaldo goes into a water astatine minus 4 degrees to treat injuries. Cold is therapeutic; it rejuvenates everything. And present successful Greece, with kilometers of coastline, we don’t adjacent similar swimming,” helium concludes earlier preparing for his dive.

Beats the cafe

“I don’t request a scientist – I person the sea,” says Panayiotis Kokolakis, a erstwhile shipping executive. “What should I bash instead? Sit successful a café and smoke? Here, I’ll unrecorded to a hundred. Even astatine home, my ablution has nary blistery water – I ne'er needed it.”

Panayiotis Kokolakis, the ‘guardian’ of the formation successful Palaio Faliro and an experienced swimmer, besides serves arsenic an informal lifeguard. [Nikos Kokkalias]

“He’s our guardian, our protector,” insists Elvetia, who ever keeps a spot adjacent to him. Kokolakis besides points to the dangers the oversea tin conceal. “Many radical person been mislaid here. They swim beyond the buoys – I unsocial person rescued dozens,” helium says proudly, pointing to the lifeguard’s chair, bare during the winter months. “There should beryllium someone present adjacent successful December. So galore radical travel to swim, and astir of them are elderly,” helium stresses.

A fewer kilometers south, successful Kavouri, connected a small “gem” of a formation arsenic visitors telephone it, 35-year-old Makis explains that helium took up winter swimming conscionable 4 years ago, aft the Covid pandemic. While winter swimmers are usually older, much and much young radical are pursuing suit.

Makis started winter swimming aft the Covid pandemic. Today it is an indispensable routine. [Nikos Kokkalias]

“Younger radical are a spot acrophobic of acold water,” Makis says, managing to steal clip from his bureau occupation successful Piraeus to travel here. “But aft the Covid pandemic, I noticed a shift. If you travel connected a Sunday, there’s obscurity to park. Some radical spell to psychologists – but the oversea is psychotherapy successful itself, whether you’re conscionable looking astatine it oregon swimming successful it.” At this clip of year, helium swims for astir 20 minutes. “Later, successful February and March, the water temperature tin driblet to 8 degrees. Then I tin grip astir 10 minutes.”

Kostas Nakopoulos, a erstwhile sailor, has galore ‘pneumonia’ stories to tell, because, arsenic helium stresses to Kathimerini, icy water ‘requires caution.’ [Nikos Kokkalias]

“But what I bask astir is daydreaming – sitting here, speechmaking a book, poesy oregon prose, and imagining that I’m not successful Athens but somewhere else, successful a dreamlike place,” helium says, returning to his reading. “It’s an idea. The acold is conscionable an idea,” exclaims a woman nearby, acceptable to dive in. “There’s a northerly breeze today, but you should still try it. Your senses will wake up – you’ll hide everything.”