If you hate cold water, enjoy wild swimming in north Wales

When Emma Marshall's kids urged her to jump into the cold river on Spa Day in 2020, her first instinct was a resounding no.

“All my friends and family will say, 'Emma hates cold water,' and I would do anything to avoid that,” she says.

So how did a Bangor University lecturer go from cold water phobia to author of a book about wild swimming?

That day, in the beautiful surroundings of her hometown of Eiri, or Snowdonia, she faced the moment of her departure for Damascus.

During lockdown, during her daily walk to Afon (River) Ogwen near her home in Gwynedd, Bethesda, she laughs: “I basically forced my kids to come inside.”

And far from hating her, she says: “As soon as I walked in, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing.’ I was hooked right away.

“Afon Ogwen is beautiful and changes throughout the course, but near us it’s very wooded, very wide and rocky and just divine.

“It was a great place to start. I couldn't help but love it. Snowdonia, Eriri, it's a wild swimming paradise.”

Emma was already an avid runner and hiker, so she already knew many of the routes around Eriri. But now the focus of her outings has changed to taking a dip on the mountainside wherever she goes.

“I thought about all the places I remembered from my walks and started going for walks or runs up mountainsides to get to those places,” she explains.

She will gladly swim anywhere, but her favorite types are swims with waterfalls.

“It’s definitely always a waterhole,” she says.

“I think it's very exciting.”

There's also “a little science” behind the attraction, she says.

Emma added: “It seems to have something to do with the water flowing and breaking up. Apparently that creates negative ions, which is a good thing.”

“That’s why you get that feel-good factor, because your brain sharpens as a result of the intense water.

“I think that might be why I love waterfalls so much, but at the same time they are so beautiful.”

Despite her commitment to year-round swimming, Emma doesn't consider herself a typical good swimmer and has plenty of safety tips in her book.

“I never stay for long. I'm not that good a swimmer. I'm a dipper,” she explains.

“But sometimes, especially in the winter, you'll dunk and come right back.

“It still produces a release of dopamine, which is a good drug to have.”

And over time, as the pleasure of being in the water increased, the idea of ​​sharing some of her knowledge began to emerge.

But she also wanted to protect the environment she loved.

“I love swimming and I post a lot of pictures on Instagram of me swimming and walking,” Emma added.

“I never say where I'm actually, because I think you have such a responsibility. On Instagram, when people just say, 'Okay, I'll go there,' without doing any research.” It’s too easy.”

But even places thought to be well-known intrigue Emma, ​​and she decides to see if she can get her hands on a book on wild swimming walks.

When I saw that there were people covering other parts of the country but not Eliri, I started thinking that she might be the perfect person to fill that gap.

She added: “If I don't do it, someone else will write this book, and I know I can do it.

“You can do that in a way that conveys the importance of how you treat your environment and carefully choose where you take people.”

She intentionally did not share all the places she goes because she believes that the delicate balance of nature in some areas can be overwhelmed by too many visitors.

A book called Wild Swim Walks Eryri has just been released and details 28 routes in the national park.

And she says it's always been a favorite when she can think of the last time she swam, but if she had to choose just one it would be Ill Wiffa, a walk in the Glydlau Mountains north-east of Snowdon. It is said that it is something to do.

“This is one of the most challenging walks in the book. It's more like a pool than a lake,” she says.

“It’s called Linn Kaseg Fleis, which means Lake of the Spotted Mare.

“It's just the perfect mountain pool. The background is Trifan.” [mountain]. I have swam there many times at sunrise, when the sun rises and reflects off the tryfan, giving it a pink glow.

“Then you go to Llyn Boclwyd and the terrain changes, it gets a little bit busier and the terrain changes, there’s a real rapid and it flows into Llyn Ogwen.

“It’s a lot of fun for the senses.”