Open water swims around Sundsvall and the Bothnian coast — where, when, how cold, and how it went.
← Back to CliveSwimsA running log of swims — sea dips at Juniskär and Tranviken, lake sessions at Sidsjön, winter ice dips and the odd long training swim. Want conditions for today? Ask the AI assistant — it reads the live water-temperature feed.
Short dip as the season turns. Cold shock is instant at this temperature — slow entry, control the breathing first, then a few hundred metres of steady front crawl. The lake is quiet this time of year.
Evening swim in the sheltered bay behind the skerries. The archipelago at its best — clear water, granite slabs to warm up on afterwards. Swam the island loop, roughly 2 km of easy sightseeing.
Shallow sandy bay — the warmest water on the coast when the sun's been out. Good spot for a longer steady session along the shore.
Regular dips in the maintained ice hole at Abborviken with the Sundsvall polar bears. Thirty seconds to a minute, never alone, sauna afterwards. The afterglow lasts hours.
Dover to Cap Gris-Nez — the swim that started it all. See the GPS track and the story on the marathon swims page.