FEATURES,  Features

Swimprint – hand-printing swimming caps in the Midlands

Gaynor Willis is a former Olympic swimmer and owner of swim cap printing business Swimprint. We caught up with her to find out more.

What is Swimprint?

In brief, we’re Europe’s leading printed swimming cap manufacturer. We pride ourselves using the highest quality caps we can find and we use specialist inks, that we’ve had created for us. We primarily print caps for schools and clubs but also do events, both open water and triathlon. All caps are hand printed with extreme care and incredible accuracy in the Midlands. We also try to give back. We have partnered with “One Tree Planted” and for every order of 50 caps or more, we plant a tree. It’s something that’s important to me personally and close to my heart.

How has covid-19 affected you?

Badly! But we’re hanging on. Business is slowly picking up again and I’m optimistic we will pull through. We hold plenty of stock and 90% of our caps are printed in the UK, so we’re able to respond quickly to increased demand.

How did you get started?

That’s a long story! I was a GB swimmer for around 10 years and an Olympic finalist (as Gaynor Stanley) in Los Angeles, 1984. When I left swimming, I joined Speedo, where I worked until I had my second child. My husband decided he wanted to run his own business and took on SwimShop. After he died suddenly, at just 41, SwimShop was sold to Sports Direct. The swim cap printing business was part of SwimShop, but personalisation of swim caps didn’t fit the Sports Direct business model, so I retained that, and called it Swimprint.

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What is the most memorable hat design you’ve been asked to print?

Being an ex-athlete myself the most memorable cap designs are for the National teams in major games. The rules are very strict with logo sizes, national flags, country and individual names but there is a great sense of satisfaction to then see them in the water on television.

Have you ever had to refuse to print a hat?

Yes! I cannot describe how rude it was and only just before lockdown. Disgusting. We have however printed marriage proposals, birthday and anniversary caps and also one for the British Naturists, which I found hilarious – no clothes but we must wear a cap!

Find out more: swimprint.com

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I created Outdoor Swimmer in 2011 (initially as H2Open Magazine) as an outlet for my passion for swimming outdoors. I've been a swimmer and outdoor swimmer for as long as I remember. Swimming has made a huge difference to my life and I want to share its joys and benefits with as many people as possible. I am also the author of Swim Wild & Free: A Practical Guide to Swimming Outdoors 365 a Year and I provide one-to-one support to swimmers through Swim Mentoring.