GlommaDyppen – wild swims together
Are you an avid open water swimmer? Feel free to join us for a swim!
Regular swims
In recent years, many swimmers have chosen to schedule their open water sessions on Sundays (6:00 PM) and Thursdays (6:30 PM), often at Heiavannet or Varsjøen—though sometimes at other locations as well. We hope this is a tradition people will want to continue, with a shared sense of responsibility for keeping the sessions going. You’re welcome to use the private, club-independent Messenger chat “Mer utesvømming sammen” to coordinate swims. The chat is currently managed by Dag and Roar. Leave a message on this Facebook page, with a link to your profile, and we’ll try to help you get added to the chat! Of course, feel free to reach out to others through whatever channels you prefer—whether other chats, groups, or pages.
"Spontaneous" swims
Open water swimming is fun, and we do it as often as we can—anytime, almost anywhere. We encourage everyone to invite others to swim whenever they feel like it, helping more people enjoy great outdoor experiences. A big part of this is also showing up for spontaneous sessions when someone sends out an invite. That’s how we keep the open water community lively and active! So join in whenever you can! Feel free to use the same chat mentioned under “Regular Swims” or whatever channels you prefer—other chats, groups, or pages.
Logging Your Swim Sessions
If you’d like, you’re more than welcome to help document our open water swims! You can either register your swim using this form, or agree with one of your swim buddies that they’ll register the swim on behalf of everyone who took part. This way, we can keep track of the total number of swims throughout the season. When we reach our “goal” of 500 swims, we’ll celebrate with a casual cake party. We also keep count of the number of swims per person, so you can have a friendly competition with your swim friends to see who gets the most swims in during the season.
You don’t need to be a member of one of our swim clubs—Fet Svømmeklubb or Sørumsand IF Svømmegruppe—to take part in the wild swim. But of course, we truly appreciate it if you choose to support one (or both) of us by becoming a member. Feel free to get in touch, and we’ll help you get signed up!
Some advice on the way to safe wild swims
- Bring a friend who looks after you from shore and is the one who drives you home after the swim
- Swim together with (at least) one other swimmer, that is, do not swim alone
- Bring a floating object, the best is a swimming buoy. If you don’t have one, or don’t have the opportunity to buy one, you can borrow one from us for the first swims
- Bring a warm change of clothes for afterwards. Preferably wool close to the body, and dress in layers. Bring a windproof jacket and trousers so you can keep warm when you are out of the water again. Remember a hat and mittens, and good, warm shoes
- Make the first swim short, especially in the spring. You should be out of the water long before you feel chilled or cold
- Take time to get used to the water before you start the swim. Splash water in your the face, “wash” the face several times, blow bubbles into the water. Relax and accept the water is cold. Get complete control of your breathing before you start the swim
- If you struggle with keeping your head in the water because it hurts, stop, take a break and try again. Feel free to try 3-4 times, but if doesn’t stop hurting, it is currently too cold for you to swim with your face in the water. You can consider swimming with your face out of the water, but you now know that this is at the limit of what your body wants to accept this particular day, so get ready to get out of the water
- Remember that you are doing this because it is supposed to be fun and a positive experience, swimming in cold water is not something you do to “toughen up”
- All bodies react differently to cold water, there is no general rule on how long you can stay in the water at a given temperature When the first person in the group feels like getting out, the whole group gets out of the water.
- It is ok to divide into different groups that go in and out of the water at different times. But try to have something in common on land both before and after. In any case, you should have full control over how many people considers going in, how many actually go in, and that all of these are out of the water before you pack up and go home
- Bring both food and drink for after the swim
- If you have “pushed the limit” and been in water for so long that you notice you are really chilled when getting out: Don’t drive home alone, get someone to drive you (this is one of the reasons for bringing a friend that can help, with undressing and dressing, and driving home). If you experience other physical ailments after you have returned home and feel that you are not getting warm, do not wait too long to consult the emergency room. This last point is very rarely experienced, but keep it in mind anyway so that you are mentally prepared for it if you end up in this situation.
This might sound like a lot, but it’s something we’ve been putting into practice in the GlommaDyppen community over the past few years—with great results.
The most important thing: Enjoy your swim and enjoy the freedom of swimming outdoors!
