Born to be wild

A duck to water? Paul Rouse meets up with Norwegian wild swimmer Elli, an advocate of extremes.

INTERVIEW: ELLI, WILD SWIMMER

Born to be wild

A duck to water? Paul Rouse meets up with Elli, an advocate of extremes.

Cold water addict Wim Hof might have become an unlikely TV star with his series Freeze The Fear.

Elli, who prefers to be known simply as that (or by the Instagram username that encapsulates her positive outlook, lifeisnow_behappy) isn’t seeking fame or fortune. She just wants to inspire and motivate others to take up wild swimming, and to put a smile on people’s faces.

“My aim is a pretty straightforward one,” she admits. “To share my passion and joy for daily, all year-round swimming. Outdoors, of course. And naked whenever possible.”

A Norwegian who lives on the south coast of the country, Elli is a digital advisor for a large corporate company, a life model in her spare time, and - on a daily basis - takes a refreshing dip in the North Sea, posting her experiences on social media.

Through her Instagram and OnlyFans pages, she has built up a loyal following, not just amongst converts to the activity “but also for those who don’t have the possibility to enjoy it. I know a lot of people like watching my morning swim story as part of their own daily routine. I am a believer in moments - and in living in the moment. And that is the main drive behind my digital presence - to motivate others to see the beauty even in the smallest of things.”

For Elli, it’s simply a part of who she is, and certainly not a new trend or passing fad. “I’ve pretty much been wild swimming all my life,” she says. “It’s a natural activity if you grow up in Norway. We don’t even call it ‘wild swimming.’ It’s just swimming. And something a lot of people here do all year-round.

“Where I live, we have cold water in the sea for about 6-7 months of the year. And by ‘cold’ I mean cold - less than 10°C! In December, January and February, the water temperature is normally less than 3°C. And the sea often freezes over. So, from October to April at least, we have cold water. In the summer, we say the water is ‘warm’ if it gets over 18°C. And maybe I’m a bit of a masochist, but during the summer, I take an ice bath in my garden at least once a week. And I still swim in the sea every day as well.”

Rush

Most of us are probably familiar with the term adrenaline-rush relating to exciting and sometimes dangerous activities. Cold water swimming gives you an endorphin-rush. Endorphins are responsible for that feeling you get after a great workout, eating a piece of dark chocolate, or even having a good laugh with friends. They are the chemicals in your brain that help you cope with pain and feel good overall. Elli’s daily dips simply take that experience to the next level.

“I love the feeling of fresh, cold water, the boost of endorphins, and the high that comes with it. It’s like the ‘ginger’ in my life, and I liken it to cleaning my daily palette. Except in this case, it’s my whole body. It also gives me a lot of strength dealing with pain, as I suffer from chronic migraines and inflammations, and I find the cold water not only reduces my pain but helps me find focus. And medical studies have proved that cold water immersion is beneficial in relieving many types of problems.”

As for enjoying her swims naked, that almost goes without saying, and apart from occasionally donning a woolen hat or gloves in the fiercest grip of winter, Elli invariably takes to water as everybody should.

“I’ve never had a problem with nudity,” she explains. “I’ve also worked as a life model all my adult life, and in a way, I would say that life modelling could be seen as performance art. But I’m not an exhibitionist. My OnlyFans account (lifemodellivingbythesea) was only created because I had so many naturally naked images I wanted to share. It doesn’t have any explicit content, but nor is it restricted by Instagram guidelines.

“I also live by the sea, so I can walk from home in my dressing gown and down to the pier every morning. I always swim naked as long as I’m not bothering anyone. But most Norwegians are pretty relaxed about that kind of thing. My location is very private, so it’s perfectly normal for me to swim naked. It’s just the most natural and practical option - and I don’t like wet clothes. Think about it. You’ve been for a swim. You’ve maybe also sat for several minutes in an ice hole. The last thing you want to do is try to remove frozen swimwear with semi-frostbitten fingers. And once you’ve finished, you can also dry off and wrap up faster to get warm.”

Home

Unsurprisingly, Elli’s favourite swimming spot is at home. “That doesn't mean I don’t like swimming elsewhere; it’s just that the location is so convenient that it allows me to keep up my routine of a daily swim without the hassle of having to drive anywhere. But I always swim wherever I go, such as when I visit friends elsewhere in the country. And my work takes me to Sweden and Denmark quite a bit, so I always try to book a hotel that’s close to a good swimming spot.”

As popular as the pastime is in her home country, Elli isn’t a member of a swimming club or group. “I like going solo. I love the serenity of the silence. In fact, when I do have company, my friends and family know me so well that they always let me have several minutes of complete silence when I enter the water. Most mornings, certainly, I go alone, but you need to know what you’re doing: unless you are a strong swimmer, some locations can be potentially dangerous.”

As Elli explains, winter swimming has become particularly popular in Norway since the pandemic, and has also had a lot of media attention. “A friend of mine who I shared ice baths with last winter even wrote a book about it. And floating saunas is also a big new thing; they’re popping up all over the country. I installed my own sauna on my terrace this winter - and I use it a couple of times a week, starting and finishing with a cold swim.

“In Norway, we’re also lucky enough to have the most beautiful scenery to enjoy, and there are plenty of places to go to be alone all day - naked if you wish. I guess I prefer to be naked alone and in nature rather than naked with others, so I take my boat and sail to an island I can have all to myself. There I can sunbathe and swim naked to my heart’s content without bothering anyone.”

And longer trips?

“I obviously haven’t done that much travelling abroad for leisure during the last couple of years due to Covid. But I’m dreaming of a holiday where I can read, catch some sun, and of course swim. And in this case, it will be somewhere hot!”

 © Paul Rouse 2022