Edinburgh wild swimming: Over 100 take a dip at Portobello to mark launch of new book The Ripple Effect

New book by Vicky Allan and Anna Deacon celebrates rise of wild swimming groups since Covid

More than 100 swimmers from all over Scotland took a bracing dip in the sea at Portobello to mark the launch of a new book on the joys of wild swimming by two best-selling authors and raise money for Mental Health Swims.

The book, The Ripple Effect: A Celebration of Britain’s Brilliant Wild Swimming Communities by Vicky Allan and Anna Deacon, looks into the Covid-era rise of wild swimming groups and what makes them tick, featuring stories around male mental health support, menopausal solidarity, alcohol recovery, skinny dipping and therapeutic groups.

It follows the success of Taking The Plunge, the authors’ 2019 top-selling coffee table book about the health benefits of wild swimming. Anna Deacon says there has been a “meteoric rise” in fans of cold-water swimming since then, including the growth of her own sea-swimming group at Wardie Bay from around 50 people pre-lockdown to more than 3,000.

Anna Deacon and Vicky Allan launch their new book about wild swimming, The Ripple Effect, by having a swim in the sea in Portobello with over 100 wild swimmers. Picture: Greg Macvean.

She believes the the community aspect of swimming, the sense of belonging and a common purpose helps keep people going for regular dips together. Writing in The Scotsman at the weekend, she said: “It's clear the ripple effect many of these groups have spread out into the friends and family of those in the group, but also into the wider community as well with many groups starting fundraising events or projects to benefit charities close to their hearts.”

She said a “Dook A Day In May” initiative in Edinburgh to raise money for St Columba's Hospice had netted more than £19,000 in 2022. “Further fundraising events on the beach have raised yet more, with a Christmas swim event taking place last year which featured a fancy dress swim, a bake sale on the shore, a raffle and even bagpipes piping the swimmers into the water.

"Not only did the hospice do well from the fundraising, for the swimmers being a part of something, having a reason to swim, the cameraderie of dressing up and swimming en masse for charity gave people such joy as new friendships were formed and a sense of belonging and being part of change for good was priceless.”

The book launch party on Portobello beach brought together groups from across Scotland: The Pittenweem Menopausal Mermaids, The Blue Balls, The Polar Bears, The Blue Tits, The Perkies and many others. It also raised funds for Mental Health Swims, the UK-wide mental health peer support community.

The Ripple Effect: A Celebration of Britain's Brilliant Wild Swimming Communities, by Anna Deacon & Vicky Allan, is out now, published in hardback by Black & White Publishing at £20.