Winter dip eases chronic pain, says wild swimmer
A wild swimmer who suffers with chronic pain has said regular winter dips have helped calm her symptoms.
Mel Pardoe is part of a group of swimmers that frequent Dosthill Quarry near Kingsbury, Warwickshire, throughout the winter.
The hardy swimmer said she started taking part in a bid to improve her health.
Ms Pardoe, from Nuneaton, said the cold water reduces her pain and helps her get out of bed.
She is one of thousands of swimmers who frequent lakes for wild swimming across the West Midlands during winter.
"Winter is the best time to do it because it's so cold, your core gets cold, which massively helps with reducing pain," she said.
"It really helps with the swelling in my body.
"It's not a wonder drug but it helps manage my conditions because usually I'd just be in bed, so it allows me to get out and about.
"It's quite amazing.
"I hope I'm swimming as long as I can live."
Andrew Wybrew, who lives two miles (3.2 km) away from the quarry said he got into wild swimming through free diving.
"It's what you get afterwards which is amazing - you feel very invigorated, you feel very alive," he said.
"You don't feel the cold so much afterwards.
"It's a euphoria, it's like a natural high."
Ian Forster, who owns the quarry, said the number of people swimming at the site has grown by about 700% since the pandemic.
"When the Covid hit, I got a load of phone calls from swimmers asking if they could come and use the lake," he said.
"We had 4,500 registered swimmers before Covid and by October of that same year we had leapt to 25,000."
Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
