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A Sporting Way to Build Community
When Elliott Blackmore discovered Mental Health Swims, it felt like home. Swimming and paddleboarding alone had felt lonely; other groups seemed a little unwelcoming. This community felt “totally, 100 percent nonjudgmental,” he says.
At Mental Health Swims, volunteer hosts around the UK organize meetups at the beach, lakes, rivers or outdoor pools, so that anyone can benefit from, as the organization puts it, the “healing power of cold water and community.” For Blackmore, a deputy headteacher (principal), the effect was immediate. He first joined a local swim, in Margate on the southeastern coast of England, during the winter holiday period. “Christmas was a really difficult time for me. [Swimming that day] meant that I felt, for the next two or three weeks, so much better,” he says.
Mental Health Swims focuses on “dips not distance.” Courtesy of Mental Health Swims
The benefits of outdoor swimming are well documented, but Mental Health Swims adds another layer, notes Blackmore, now a volunteer host with the Margate group. Swimmers share the adrenaline rush of a cold-water dip — and sometimes also a chat about what’s bothering them. “When people open up like that, it means your connections become really strong, really quickly,” he says.
With its focus on “dips not distance,” Mental Health Swims is one of many groups sprouting up to encourage physical activity, whatever your ability. But the benefits may go beyond individual wellbeing. These groups also facilitate social connections, which is good for local communities. And they provide spaces for people of differing backgrounds to interact — something that experts say is sorely needed.
A strong economy needs functioning infrastructure — transport links, utilities and so on. Similarly, strong social ties require underlying support. Some call this “social infrastructure,” which researcher Dan Gregory defines as “places and spaces and structures that allow people to come together.”
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