A CLUNES man is inviting everyone to take the plunge into polar bear swimming as part of a recently-formed social group.<\/p>\n
After five years of practicing polar bear swimming, which involves entering uncomfortably cold water, Paul Payne is hosting regular meetups at Creswick\u2019s Calembeen Lake and looking for others to join him.<\/p>\n
Called the Calembeen Polar Bear Club, the group is set to meet bi-weekly.<\/p>\n
Mr Payne has been practicing polar bear swimming for more than 20 years and said it\u2019s a great therapeutic practice for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good for the central nervous system and cardiovascular system, but it\u2019s really great for my emotional and mental health. I feel great for the whole day afterwards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn getting people in the water, it\u2019s lead by example. I was the first one in. You just have to get right in and go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI lived in the United States for 20 years and polar bear swimming was everywhere there. I came back in 2016 and moved up here and found all the waterholes really quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Creswick, there\u2019s a group of people here that like to swim in the mornings. It\u2019s become quite social so I wanted to formalise this sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Federation University\u2019s discipline lead for exercise and sports science Dr Scott Talpey said although there are proven physical benefits for polar bear swimming, there \u201cis no overwhelming evidence\u201d for psychological improvements.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere probably isn\u2019t that much benefit to it,\u201d he said. \u201cCold water is really used for therapeutic purposes for athletes to recover from exercise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know people like to do it for psychological purposes and from that standpoint, it can help them learn to cope with things that make them uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the evidence supporting getting into cold water though is around recovering from hard training and competitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the winters, the lakes around here would be cold enough for this though not as cold as elsewhere where it\u2019s more commonly practiced.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Calembeen Polar Bear Club meets every Wednesday at 9am and Sunday at 7am.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A CLUNES man is inviting everyone to take the plunge into polar bear swimming as part of a recently-formed social group. After five years of practicing polar bear swimming, which involves entering uncomfortably cold water, Paul Payne is hosting regular meetups at Creswick\u2019s Calembeen Lake and looking for others to join him. Called the Calembeen […]<\/p>\n