Product details
- ISBN 9780241754825
- Weight: 750g
- Dimensions: 156 x 240mm
- Publication Date: 30 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
A globe-spanning narrative adventure about how the euphoria of cold water can transform — and even extend — your life.
'Mesmerizing. Chris Ballard does a deep dive into one of the most controversial health, fitness, and athletic crazes of our time. I still loathe cold water, but I loved this book.' Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Hidden Potential
Lifelong athlete and Sports Illustrated writer Chris Ballard worried his days of exercise were numbered. Then he received a fateful text message about a trend taking hold around the world: submerging in freezing cold water.
It wasn’t only thrill seekers or wellness gurus extolling its power. Swimmers have long known that when paired with cold, their sport delivers extraordinary rewards; now, modern research has shown that just a few minutes in cold water can deliver remarkable benefits: heightened energy and focus, reduced inflammation, and relief from depression and anxiety.
In The Plunge, Ballard travels to laboratories and swims in waters around the world, from Portsmouth to the Pacific, tracing the roots of cold water swimming in ancient practices largely lost in the modern world.
He immerses himself in the growing tribe of cold-water junkies of all ages, shapes and nationalities, from pioneers like Lynne Cox to visionaries like Ram Barkai, whose audacious dream of getting ice swimming into the Olympics edges closer to reality.
And, from cold plunging to open water swimming to ice swimming, he tests his limits in this extreme sport, eventually becoming a US national champion, his body and mind transformed along the way.
Blending history, cutting-edge science, colourful characters, and propulsive narrative storytelling, it’s a rollicking, eye-opening adventure that reveals how a single act — stepping into cold water — can unlock resilience, connection, meaning and joy.
Chris Ballard is an award-winning author and journalist who has written for The New York Times, National Geographic, and Sports Illustrated, where he was a Senior Writer for two decades.
When he started writing THE PLUNGE, he had no idea about the power of cold water.
In 2024 he became the US national ice swimming champion in his age group for the 50m and 100m freestyle. In 2025 he competed at the 6th International Ice Swimming Association World Championships in Italy.
