FEATURES
In-depth features that celebrate the vibrant outdoor swimming community, spotlighting extraordinary individuals and their stories.
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Close encounters of the wild kind! Your wildlife swimming pics
Inquisitive seals, playful ducks and alarming swans – thank you for sharing photos of your wildlife encounters with us on…
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Event review: Barbados Open Water Swim Festival
Reader Alison Atfield decided to travel to Barbados alone for a new challenge
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Flourishing through swimming: practical principles from positive psychology
For our March Virtual Event we were delighted to host Leadership Coach Lexi Tinkler who shared fascinating insights about how…
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Interview: Mark Turner, co-founder, UltraSwim 33.3
What inspired the UltraSwim 33.3 format, and what keeps Mark up at night? Mark Turner is the co‑founder of UltraSwim…
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Event review: The Really Cold Swim Championships 2026
Long distance and ice swimmer Jo Jones reports on this year’s event at Rother Valley Country Park.
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Breath, water and vibration
Breathing correctly makes us better swimmers, but can working on breath on dryland helps us in the water? Ella Foote…
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Five ways to calm the nervous system
Personal trainer Liz Lowe recommends five simple actions to help reduce perceived stress and soothe the nervous system for a…
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Use the outdoors for dryland training
Avoid busy, stuffy gyms and get outside for your dryland training, says fitness coach Vivienne Rickman
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Spring clean the body
This month, editor Ella advises how to prepare for the season ahead with a mind and body spring clean
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Winging it: the day a swan became my pacer
What an unexpected river chase taught Jharna Kumawat about calm, kindness, and keeping strokes tidy
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Review: Don’t Be Prey
A documentary about one man’s quest to rebuild his life through swimming the Oceans Seven
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Never stop exploring
Raised by the sea in Western Australia, Madoc Lanfear Appleby has found challenge, calm and meaning in open water swimming
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Events and wildlife
Alice Dearing shares her experience about how to deal with wildlife when taking part in events and competition
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Weekend swim retreat, Stanwell House Hotel, Hampshire
Editor Ella Foote shares her experience of a spa weekend at Stanwell House Hotel on the edge of the New…
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Get event ready with Vassos Alexander
How to swim your best at the Great North Swim and other open water events this summer – with sports…
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Swimming with wildlife: wonder, responsibility and the fear factor
Swimming with wildlife is not a right, it’s a privilege, one that depends on healthy ecosystems, responsible operators, informed swimmers,…
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Dirty Business: Why we must watch, care – and still dive in
Gripping and sobering, Channel 4's Dirty Business shines an unapologetic spotlight on what’s been happening to our waterways and asks…
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Monsters of the deep
Why are we so fascinated by deep sea monsters? Rowan Clarke asks writer and academic Prema Arasu
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Close encounters
When it comes to wildlife encounters, how close is too close? asks Rowan Clarke
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How to boost your endurance and swim stronger
Boosting endurance in the pool isn’t just about swimming more laps, says swim coach Nicola Butler. It’s about training smarter,…
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The Thames: London’s wildlife artery
Far from being “biologically dead”, the Thames is a great place for wildlife, says Simon Griffiths
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Sharing the river
Swimmers witness nature like no other outdoor pursuit, says Sophie Etheridge
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London to get its first designated bathing area on the River Thames
An idyllic stretch of river at Ham and Kingston could become London's first river bathing site on the Thames, thanks…
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Your next trip: explore, swim, volunteer and change lives
Overseas adventures, discovering new countries, swimming in exciting new places… why not add volunteering to the experience with SwimTayka?
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The open water community has doubled since 2017
A new report highlighting the economic and social benefits of outdoor activity in the UK recognises the continued rise of…
