How We Came to Love Sea Swimming
We heard about this crazy thing Finns did before we moved to Helsinki. We heard people describe it, read about it, and watched videos. But it wasn’t until we went sea swimming ourselves did we truly understand the magic.
Sea swimming at Löyly in December
To go sea swimming is to truly embrace sisu. Sisu is a Finnish concept: the combination of grit, determination, and bravery.
The first time we went sea swimming was in September. We were wearing light jackets and sneakers as we walked around Helsinki. Even then, it felt crazy to brave the waters. It felt freezing.
Since that first time, we have gone a few times each month. We have felt the pure ecstasy of cold water on our skin as the temperatures outside continue to drop.
As you walk outside in your bathing suit, the cold air awakens all of your senses. Experienced swimmers wear water shoes, specialized gloves, and a sauna hat. Some wear winter hats to retain some body heat. Then, against all of your instincts, you climb down the ladder to plunge into the cold water.
A Physical and Mental Experience
A successful swimming experience will be thirty seconds or more in the water. Pain is replaced by pins and needles. The pins and needles are overcome by a rush of adrenaline. As you walk back to the sauna, your skin shines red. Your mind is calm. If you stayed in long enough, the full-body pins and needles return.
The sauna is just what you need to enjoy the newfound mental calm. The truth is, the trip to the sauna is simply to warm yourself up in preparation for another dip in the sea. Jon and I repeat the sea-to-sauna cycle many times each trip. Just as the calm is beginning to wear off and the hot air of the sauna sinks into your pores, it is time to take another dip!
When you leave, you are overwhelmed with the sense that you’ve accomplished something big. Jon compares it to the feeling after successfully completing a big test. I like to think of it as a pure adrenaline rush — similar to my bungee-jumping experience in South Africa. A calm washes over you. It is a feeling I don’t get very often.
If you are coming to visit us, you can be darn sure we are going to try to convince you to go sea swimming. Jon will be a little more patient about it. I will be direct. You must go sea swimming. It is an experience you will never forget.
Our Favorite Spots
Allas Sea Pools is located in the heart of Helsinki. It is right on the Baltic Sea, next to the Market Square and the Ferris Wheel. They pump the cold seawater into a little pool for you to go in. The unique part of Allas is the heated pool. People go back and forth from the seawater to the heated pool. Some people come here just to do laps in the warm water. The facility also has changing rooms, showers, a cafe, a restaurant, yoga, and of course, a sauna.
Löyly Helsinki is located in a more urban area. We take the tram for about twenty minutes to get there. The architecture is so cool! It is made up of all straight lines, wooden planks, and metal lights. You can choose to go in the smoke or electric sauna. The facility includes changing rooms, showers, a fire pit, and a nice restaurant.
Kuusijärven Jääkarhut is in Vantaa on a small lake. My Fulbright buddy, Tuija Kae, took us here with her husband, Ari. This facility includes showers, changing rooms, saunas, and a cafeteria. The cool part about this experience is the proximity to nature. You really feel like you are in the woods.
