Can you swim with a cold?
A common cold is called common for a reason: they are absolutely common. The question is: can you swim with a cold? The answer is yes, you could swim with a cold. However, that doesn’t mean it is a good idea to swim with a cold. Because there are serious risks.
A stuffed nose, sore throat, coughs, sneezing and some fever. They are symptoms that come with a cold. We can catch a cold everywhere: at work, on a bus or train, your kids might bring one home. It’s common, it’s a cold.
When you catch a cold, you might want to reconsider going for a swim. Even if swimming is your moment for yourself. Even if you love the swim and it gives you energy. Should you go?
Can I go for a swim with a cold?
The general advice is that if you have symptoms that are above the neck (cough, sore throat, runny nose) that you should be good to go. And, if you have symptoms below the neck, like sore muscles or a fever, those are reasons to keep out of the pool.
However, this advice is based on one single study, “The effect of exercise training on the severity and duration of a viral upper respiratory illness” in which exercise seemed to relieve common cold symptoms.
There haven’t been any other studies on the subject, which makes it kind of difficult to recommend swimming when you have a cold. Mainly because, swimming, when you have a cold, can have serious consequences, not only for yourself but also for others (if you swim in a pool).
The risks of swimming with a cold
When your body is fighting a fever or the flu, exercise might weaken your body and increase the risk of a viral infection like myocarditis.
During the first 3 days of your cold, it’s in its most infectious state. So, even though you technically could go for a swim, it is hardly a responsible act.
When you’re feeling under the weather and generally unwell, doing exercise might just not feel right. You cannot swim like you are used to, it will feel unpleasant. Do you want to risk your health and those of others for a subpar swimming experience, just because you want to swim?
What to do when you can’t swim because of a cold?
As a swimmer, you can spend the time you usually spend in the pool to work on other areas of swimming. You could watch videos to improve your technique. You could plan your next big swim. Or, if you need some inspiration, you could pick up one of the best books on open water swimming.
Can you swim with a cold?
While there is no straight answer because technically you could swim with a cold (only you have symptoms above the neck) we don’t recommend you swim with a cold.
You can not only infect others with your symptoms, but your symptoms might very well get worse, in fact, that bad that you get a serious infection. Our advice would be to rest now and swim later. There will be time.
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