FEATURES

In-depth features that celebrate the vibrant outdoor swimming community, spotlighting extraordinary individuals and their stories.

Neither multiple jellyfish stings nor vomit-inducing diesel fumes hold back Beth French

On 22 July, Beth French swam from Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly. Residents of both the Isles of Scilly…
The Longest Day: BLDSA Champion of Champions

It seems somewhat of a coincidence that the British Long Distance Swimming Association’s Champion of Champions event fell on the…
Aquanuts do the double

On Friday 20 June I went for a little swim with three of my friends: we swam across the English…
DIY risk assessment for open water swimming

How much should you trust the advice of those who tell us not to swim in open water? Our hope…
Why do triathletes hate open water swimming?

We spent last weekend at the Triathlon Show in Esher and it gave us plenty of opportunity to talk to…
Africa to South America: Ben Hooper plans to do the first complete cross Atlantic swim

When athletes talk about aiming for Brazil in 2016, we usually assume they mean the Olympics. Not Ben Hooper. His…
Big girls don’t cry

“Big girls don’t cry” is the title of four songs, two albums, a TV show, a film and an episode…
It’s not so grim up north, but the sea is definitely colder

Last weekend I was reminded once again how friendly and welcoming open water swimmers can be. I travelled up to…
Testing times

How often do you test how fast you can really swim? As long as you have no medical reason why…
Hypothermia isn’t cool

Again this week I had planned to write something else but open water swimming has a habit of providing the…
Time to get your face wet

Patrick Smith is an open water swimmer and entrepreneur who writes about the parallels between swimming and business. In his…
Swimmers welcome

There are lots of great things about open water swimming – including our fantastic magazine 🙂 – but one that…
Do skins swimmers deserve separate results listings?

Should event organisers list the results for wetsuit and non-wetsuit swimmers separately or together? The default, at least for many…
Competitive swimming for the not-so-fast

Rod Newing has written an interesting piece for us on how the Serpentine Swimming Club uses a handicap system in its weekly…
Cold water swimming: Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it

Alice Todd, who works with Coningham-Rolls Swimming Holidays*, introduced her sceptical sister to cold water swimming, with impressive results. You…
What to wear in winter: tips for cold water swimmers

Just in case anyone’s landed on this page by mistake, this isn’t a fashion column. Last weekend Ella Foote invited…
Turning novices into open water swimmers

Earlier this year a small group of people got together with a common interest in open water swimming with a…
Adam Walker tackles Japan’s Tsugaru Strait

Adam Walker has now completed five of the Oceans Seven swims. His fifth, Japan’s Tsugaru Strait, was his toughest yet.…
Inspiration for anyone thinking of an English Channel relay

I’ve just read the article regarding why it is sometimes an advantage being a less experienced swimmer. I couldn’t agree more;…
How hard do you chase your dreams?

In 2008, Gideon Nasilowski watched the Paralympic swimming in Beijing and set himself a goal: to become Namibia’s first Paralympic…
Double Forth: is Sheila first?

The swim across the Forth River from Hawes Pier at South Queensferry to the pier at North Queensferry, and the…
END-WET 27km down river swimming race

I did a great event this summer in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA of all places. It is a down-river…
Another hot weekend, another tragedy, another call to avoid open water swimming

The routine is depressingly familiar. The sun comes out, people look for somewhere to cool off, someone drowns and the…
Should race organisers be encouraging people to swim in the Thames?

Earlier this week I interviewed Nick Rusling, CEO of Human Race, one of the UK’s largest open water swimming event…
When to test your limits, and when not to

There’s a motivational quote doing the rounds on Facebook at the moment that says something like: “You don’t know your…