A DIP IN THE SEA

海中游泳的快乐

By Amy Liptrot

艾米·利托特

A few years ago, after I got out of rehab for treatment of alcohol addiction, I returned from London to the Orkney islands, where I grew up.

几年前，我结束了酒瘾的康复治疗，从伦敦回到了我长大的地方——奥克尼群岛。

I was newly sober, unemployed and fragile. Back home, I joined an eccentric group of mostly women, the Orkney Polar Bear Club, who, each Saturday morning year-round, swim in the sea at different spots on the island coastline. We decide our location the night before, using analysis of the wind direction and height of tide. We swim at beaches, in rockpools, down rusty ladders from piers and out around shipwrecks.

我的头脑才刚刚恢复清醒，所以我没有工作，身心也很脆弱。回到家后，我加入了奥克尼北极熊俱乐部，那是一个新奇的组织，成员多是女性。成员一年四季每个星期六早上都会去岛周围的海里游泳，每次去的都是不同的地方。我们会在出发前一天晚上分析风向和潮汐，然后决定游泳地点。我们会去海滩，去岩石围住的海域，爬下码头生锈的梯子，游到沉船的残骸周围。

The water is always bracingly cold - from 13c at the height of summer, to an icy 3c - and I wear just a swimsuit (albeit with neoprene boots and gloves, and usually a woolly hat). I don’t stay in for long, but it’s enough.

水总是有点冷，夏天最热的时候有13度，最冷的时候只有3度，这能让人十分精神，而我只穿一件泳衣(虽然还带有橡胶靴子和手套，通常我还会戴一顶羊毛帽)。我不会游很久，但那也足够了。

With seaweed and the Atlantic on my skin, up close to anemones and limpets, I am alive. I always feel more awake when I get out, my skin and my brain tingling, with the fresh perspective you get from being at duck level.

海草和大西洋的海水触碰着我的肌肤，海葵和帽贝就在我的旁边，我真切地感到自己活着。每当我从水下回到水面的时候，我的皮肤和脑袋都会有刺痛的感觉，这时在水面看着远方清新的景色，我会觉得更加清醒，

I also swam alone during the two winters I spent on the tiny island of Papay, the most north-westerly of the Orkneys. Sometimes I swam naked and felt like the selkies of Scottish folklore: magical beings who live as seals in the sea, then shed their skins to become human on land.

我在奥克尼最西北部的帕佩小岛上待过两个冬天，期间我一直独自游泳。有时候我会一件衣服都不穿，感觉自己就像苏格兰传说中拥有魔力的精灵一样：在海里是海豹，到了岸上褪下外皮就会变成人。

In a way I was performing my version of the cold water baths historically used in the treatment of alcoholics. I was adjusting to a sober life and finding new ways to enjoy myself.

冷水浴在历史上曾被用来治疗酒瘾。在某种意义上来说，我的冷水浴也是一种治疗。我正在适应清醒的生活，寻找新方法去享受自我。

Now, the wild swims function for me in several of the same ways as alcohol used to.

现在这种狂野的游泳已经代替了酒精，在我身上发挥了一些很好的功效。

First, they provide a buzz: the ’cold water high’. Second, they’re an effective method of stress relief. The cold ocean blasts away anxiety.

首先，游泳会让我兴奋——冷水引起的兴奋。第二，游泳能有效地减轻压力，寒冷的海水会冲走焦虑。

My focus is simply on not drowning, and when I clamber back on to the beach, I feel almost reborn and my worries are smaller.

我的注意力只需放在保持身体不下沉上，而当我爬上岸的时候，我便感到重获新生，我的忧虑也会变少。

I also use the swims to celebrate the changing seasons. On the spring solstice, I will have been sober for five years and I plan to celebrate, with joy and gratitude, in cold water.

每到换季，我都会去游泳庆祝一下。等到下一个春天来临的时候，我就已经保持清醒五年了。到时候我会怀着喜悦和感激，到冷水中去庆祝。