{"id":106499,"date":"2026-03-12T15:32:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T20:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=106499"},"modified":"2026-03-23T14:12:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T19:12:55","slug":"in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/","title":{"rendered":"In chilly San Francisco Bay, open-water swimmers find warmth in community"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lucy Roberts
\n<\/b>Medill Reports<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 The water in the San Francisco Bay rarely rises above 60 degrees, even in the summer. But these chill temperatures do not stop swimmers from diving into the bay, chasing not just the shock of the cold water, but also the warmth of community they find in it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As interest in open-water swimming has grown in recent years, the historic South End Rowing Club has attracted people seeking not just a physical challenge, but also meaningful social connection in a large city.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people are really looking for community and are feeling isolated,\u201d club member Claire Buckholz said. \u201cWhat an amazing feeling it is to be able to walk into a space in a big city and know so many people of all ages and backgrounds.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Buckholz joined the club two and a half years ago after growing bored of swimming laps in a pool. Now, she goes around four times per week with the same group of people \u2014 many of whom she now considers her best friends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the most amazing sense of community,\u201d Buckholz said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a crew of four or five of us who regularly swim together.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Buckholz, there are more than\u00a0 2,000 members of the South End community, with more people hoping to join. The club is one of two located on Aquatic Park, a protected cove in the San Francisco Bay, north of Fisherman\u2019s Wharf.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two clubs \u2014 the South End Rowing Club and the Dolphin Club \u2014 are volunteer-run organizations, relying on members to serve on boards, organize events and maintain facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dolphin Club, founded in 1877, is known for its traditional roots. The South End Rowing Club, founded in 1873, tends to draw a relatively younger and more social crowd, members say. In the past, joining was as simple as paying dues. Now, because the club is full, Buckholz\u2019s friend is on a four-year waitlist to join South End.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past few years, it\u2019s really blown up,\u201d Buckholz said. \u201cSo now, both clubs are actually at capacity and there\u2019s a long waitlist to join either one of them, which is nuts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The surge in popularity reflects a broader trend. According to a 2025 <\/span>survey<\/span><\/a> conducted by The\u00a0<\/span>Harris Poll, the COVID-19 pandemic inspired younger Americans to take better care of their mental and physical health. Data collected from the survey shows 82% of people older than\u00a0 18 took up during the pandemic at least one new hobby or skill, many of which were health and wellness-related.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sasha Matera-Vatnick joined the club two and half years ago, after she moved to San Francisco and was in search of community and a new form of exercise. She read Bonnie Tsui\u2019s book, \u201cWhy We Swim,\u201d which investigates the cultural and psychological allure of water. Like Buckholz, Matera-Vatnick found open-water swimming offered the challenge and community pool swimming did not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Matera-Vatnick says swimming in the cold bay water \u2014 which can range from around 50 degrees in colder months to around 60 degrees in warmer months \u2014 has a unique effect on her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere was something that the water did to my brain and my body that\u2019s really hard to describe, but felt so good,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This feeling is not unique to open water-swimming, according to Matthew Saldanha, <\/span>a certified personal trainer, and health and fitness specialist<\/span>. Temporary spikes in norepinephrine and dopamine can cause people to report an increase in mood, alertness or energy, but this can be achieved through other athletic means, such as running, he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone wants to go swim in the bay, that\u2019s something you need to train for because that\u2019s endurance and your body handling the cold,\u201d Saldanha said. \u201cIf you were to do a race in cold water, that stops being cold therapy and more of an obstacle, so it can be used as a stimulus for the body.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the perceived physical benefits of open-water swimming may draw newcomers in, members say the relationships that they form with each other are what makes the early mornings and frigid plunges worthwhile.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJoining the South End has changed my life in San Francisco,\u201d Buckholz said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lucy Roberts is a sports media specialization graduate student at Medill.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lucy Roberts Medill Reports SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 The water in the San Francisco Bay rarely rises above 60 degrees, even in the summer. But these chill temperatures do not stop swimmers from diving into the bay, chasing not just the shock of the cold water, but also the warmth of community they find in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":765,"featured_media":106500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5061,5545,5543,31,5546,5544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-medill-explores-2026","category-msj26","category-sports","category-super-bowl-lx","category-winter-2026"],"yoast_head":"\nIn chilly San Francisco Bay, open-water swimmers find warmth in community - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In chilly San Francisco Bay, open-water swimmers find warmth in community - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lucy Roberts Medill Reports SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 The water in the San Francisco Bay rarely rises above 60 degrees, even in the summer. But these chill temperatures do not stop swimmers from diving into the bay, chasing not just the shock of the cold water, but also the warmth of community they find in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-12T20:32:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-23T19:12:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/Lucy-Roberts-SF-Bay.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"elisesantos\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"elisesantos\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/\",\"name\":\"In chilly San Francisco Bay, open-water swimmers find warmth in community - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/Lucy-Roberts-SF-Bay.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-12T20:32:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-23T19:12:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/2b7368e566ace4684ef3041502e9e5f2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/Lucy-Roberts-SF-Bay.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/Lucy-Roberts-SF-Bay.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Swimmers in Aquatic Park Cove in San Francisco Feb. 6, a semi-protected area of the San Francisco Bay where members of the South End Rowing Club regularly train. (Lucy Roberts\/MEDILL)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In chilly San Francisco Bay, open-water swimmers find warmth in community\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/2b7368e566ace4684ef3041502e9e5f2\",\"name\":\"elisesantos\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7319c3fe5f28d7c32fc03e224d4310574954bd000f6ce2062ecc46450e2c4bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7319c3fe5f28d7c32fc03e224d4310574954bd000f6ce2062ecc46450e2c4bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"elisesantos\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/elisesantos\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In chilly San Francisco Bay, open-water swimmers find warmth in community - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In chilly San Francisco Bay, open-water swimmers find warmth in community - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Lucy Roberts Medill Reports SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 The water in the San Francisco Bay rarely rises above 60 degrees, even in the summer. But these chill temperatures do not stop swimmers from diving into the bay, chasing not just the shock of the cold water, but also the warmth of community they find in […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2026-03-12T20:32:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-23T19:12:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/Lucy-Roberts-SF-Bay.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"elisesantos","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"elisesantos","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/","name":"In chilly San Francisco Bay, open-water swimmers find warmth in community - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/Lucy-Roberts-SF-Bay.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-12T20:32:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-23T19:12:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/2b7368e566ace4684ef3041502e9e5f2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/Lucy-Roberts-SF-Bay.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/Lucy-Roberts-SF-Bay.jpg","width":1600,"height":1200,"caption":"Swimmers in Aquatic Park Cove in San Francisco Feb. 6, a semi-protected area of the San Francisco Bay where members of the South End Rowing Club regularly train. (Lucy Roberts\/MEDILL)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/in-chilly-san-francisco-bay-open-water-swimmers-find-warmth-in-community\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In chilly San Francisco Bay, open-water swimmers find warmth in community"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/2b7368e566ace4684ef3041502e9e5f2","name":"elisesantos","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7319c3fe5f28d7c32fc03e224d4310574954bd000f6ce2062ecc46450e2c4bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7319c3fe5f28d7c32fc03e224d4310574954bd000f6ce2062ecc46450e2c4bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"elisesantos"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/elisesantos\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/765"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106499"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106503,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106499\/revisions\/106503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}