'The Great Lake Jumper' Dan O'Conor takes a plunge into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan, as he does every morning, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in Chicago.
You might call Dan O'Conor an amateur authority on cold water immersion. Since June 2020, the 55-year-old Chicago man has plunged into Lake Michigan almost daily, including on frigid winter mornings when he has to shovel through the ice. "My mental health is a lot stronger, a lot brighter. I found some Zen down here coming down and jumping into the lake and shocking that body," O'Conor said.
It also stimulates the part of the nervous system that regulates fight-or-flight stress response. Doing it on a regular basis may dampen that response, which could in turn help people feel better able to handle other stresses in their lives, although that is not proven, he said.