It was early morning and the lake was utterly still as the sun came up. The atmosphere on the shore was apprehensive and a little frenzied as people got their boots and gloves on, and tried to gage the right time to de-robe. It was -4 air temperature, and we knew it was going to be a chilly swim, and therefore timing felt like everything.
One thing was incredibly calm in this whole experience, and that was Gilly McCarthur: climber, snowboarder, now author, but most importantly, cold water swimming expert. She led the swim, encouraging everyone to slowly dip into the lake, step by step until our shoulders were under, deep breaths all round. I’m a regular cold water swimmer, but this particular swim was so cold it took my breath away.
Gilly’s calmness emanates from her when in conversation. Her soft, lilting scottish accent helps you slow down, and be in the moment, and I can imagine this has put her in good stead in many of the sports she is passionate about, as well as the cold water courses she runs with the NHS. You get the sense that she runs at life at a different pace to the rest of us.
Her route into swimming bears this out. She experienced burn out in a corporate job in America, left her job, and moved to the mountains in Chamonix. Her crossroads moment led her to learning to snowboard in her early 30’s, alongside some of the best snowboarders of the time; and learning to climb.
When she moved back to the UK, she found the climbing industry lacking in female focus and wanted to address this gap, launching ‘Trad Festival’ in the Lake District. The festival had majority female instructors at a time when the industry average was 10%, and embraced women of all ages. Tickets used to sell out within minutes, there was such demand for an environment that showed women that they belonged in this world.
Years later she suffered a series of set backs. Her daughter was still born at 40 weeks. Six months later she had a climbing accident in Utah, breaking her back and several ribs. She had moved to Cumbria to be closer to climbing, but was unable to be part of her beloved sport. Her recovery did however lead her back to wild swimming, something she grew up with as a child.
“It was barely double digits, and I stood there, and I was like, okay, I'll just give this cold water stuff a go again as an adult. And dipped my toe, and it was like, my god, this is just so hard. And there were some women on the shore beside me that sidled up to me, and they were a little bit older, and they were all wearing these really tiny swimming costumes.
And I honestly thought they were going to put goose fat on. They were they were off, and they were swimming, and they were having this amazing time. And afterwards, I went over and I chatted to them, and they explained that in these temperatures they're just going for this connection with the water, and that your body does adapt, and it gets you get used to it.
That night, I googled ‘death by hypothermia’ and ‘do pike bite?’. The next day, buoyed with this new information, I shelved the wetsuit.”
Our conversation on this week’s podcast comes at at timely moment of Gilly’s book launch, ‘The Beauty of Cold’. A photographic guide for anyone that wants to experience the joy of cold water, it is based on the belief that being out in nature and near water more broadly will bring you back to yourself. That we all need a way to block out the noise and feel more human.
Interestingly, the book almost didn’t happen. Despite having contributed to most of the top 10 swimming books for sale in recent years, when Gilly received an email from her publisher enquiring as to her interest in writing a book, she thought it was a prank, or mistake. Lucky for us, they followed up, and now we have this beautiful tome in our midst.
My favourite passage in the book perfectly expresses how I feel about the experience of cold water swimming:
“I’m swimming, surrendering, the edges of myself and the water merge. I’m at one with the water. In this moment life falls away.”
Cold water swimming is clearly a very different experience from surfing, snowboarding or skating, but there are parallels and this paragraph, for me, conveys them perfectly.
The need to simply escape and switch your brain off. The need to not do something for attainment or performance, but simply, to be. I truly believe it is why so many female surfers or skaters I know in their 40’s also seem to have a love of cold water. Feeling the power to overcome your fears is intoxicating.
Our interview covers:
Gilly’s route into snowboarding, climbing, and cold water swimming
Why cold water provides the ultimate reset
The process & story behind her new book, ‘The Beauty of Cold’
Her climbing accident and the role of cold water in her recovery
Finding ways to be in the moment (and off screens)
The shift from corporate America to working in board sports
Bringing women into extreme sports
Catch it on spotify or apple podcasts, or search Board Women on your favourite podcast platform
I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think.
Caroline x
Board Women Founder
Host: Caroline Keylock
Producer: Selma Chalabi
