The Pain and Joy of Cold Water Swimming

Cold-water swimmers exit the waters of Lake Dolgoye at the Umka ice swimming club in Norilsk, Russia.

Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

Hi, it’s Rick in New York City. For the past six weeks, I’ve been exploring the health benefits of outdoor winter swimming. But first...

Since early January, I’ve been showing up at a New York City beach at 10am on a Saturday or Sunday to plunge into the ocean.