Swedish beach culture

(another version of this appears in Lund University’s Medical Faculty magazine. Click here)

In the summer, I didn’t notice this massive, prominently-placed sign, as I ran along the coast by Ribersborg beach. “Nakenbad” means “nude bathing”. It was only when I saw a couple of elderly gentlemen walking towards me, that I realised I had run into the nudist area. It was a sunny day, so I was wearing a pair of sunglasses. I wished I had been wearing two pairs.

Visitors to Malmö, and friends back home in the UK, are always surprised when I tell them that summers here are hot, and we have a beach culture. It still surprises me. I suppose we are quite far north, and most of Sweden is even further north. But contrary to the image of Sweden being covered in snow, in the south we have a beach culture that even includes a nudist beach.

The average daily high temperature in the summer months is around 21℃, which means that many days are even warmer (as I write this, the forecast for tomorrow is 27℃). Even on the cooler days you can get outside and play, and the Swedes love to get outside and play.

“Ribban” is close to the city centre, and has a lot of open space and good facilities, making it a very popular place to get out and play. It offers some good routes to go running – on asphalt, grass, sand – and a few running groups do interval training here (see this map; follow me on Strava to see the routes I take).

In the summer, this stretch of beach turns into a hotbed of activity, and much of it free of charge. There’s a group of sporting activities for children and adults organised under “Summer at Ribban” which includes football, volleyball, badminton, tennis, BMX, circus skills (and a real circus also comes to town a bit further along the coast), dancing and more. Then there’s the Malmö City Horse Show and Swedish Eventing Trophy, the Toughest obstacle race, the Malmö Triathlon. There are even more activities and events if you go a bit further north or south along the coast.

Going outside and making a connection with nature is a feature of the Swedish personality. Getting naked is perhaps another expression of their connection with nature. Outsiders may have an image of naked saunas, and perhaps a plunge into icy waters. In Malmö in the summer, you can see nudity at the sea-side.

I have changed my running route now, to avoid going directly through the nudist area. Except for sometimes, half way round long runs on hot days, when the Nakenbad is not a bad place to do a bit of cold water immersion…