FEATURES

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

Lane etiquette for open water swimmers

We wade into this topic with some trepidation as nothing seems to provoke debate and heated exchanges among swimmers like…
The Tyranny of the Pace Clock

It’s a tool anyone who’s trained in a pool should be familiar with and something coaches and swimming magazines (including…
Why it’s sometimes an advantage to be a less experienced swimmer

Have you noticed how sometimes the least experienced swimmers set themselves the most audacious goals? I gave some examples in…
David Coleman’s Jersey to France swim

Swimming from Jersey to France has long been an ambition of mine as it is recognised as a tough and…
Insight into a world-beating two-way English Channel relay

On 14 July 2013 a team of women calling themselves Andy’s Channel Ladies two-way World Record Breakers did exactly what…
How good do you want to be (and how hard will you work for it)?

ave you ever dreamed of being a faster swimmer, being able to conquer great distances or swim in near-freezing water?…
Hell hath no fury – like a swum-over swimmer

The subject of proper pool behaviour seems as inexhaustible as a marathon swimmer. A few weeks back in our newsletter…
“I’m doing an Ironman tomorrow: can you teach me to swim?”

If you want some cheap entertainment ask a swimming coach to regale you with some their stories. The “I’m doing…
Ellery McGowan tackles the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (MIMS)

I had been training hard for the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (MIMS) since completing the 17.5-mile NYC Swim “Ederle Swim”…
Anne-Marie Ward talks

This is an interview Anne-Marie Ward gave to Priority Sport where she describes her love of open water swimming and…
How far is 3km?

It sounds like a trick question: 3km is 3,000m right? No question about it, unless perhaps you’re a physicist and…
Never mind the rain: Simon John Parkin’s Marlow experience

Eight o’clock on Sunday morning, 25 August 13, doing star jumps in the pouring rain, squeezed into a wetsuit and…
Water temperature and age: are they just numbers?

Open water swimmers it seems are obsessed with water temperature, and with good reason. It makes a big difference to…
Would you help a swimmer in distress?

In our previous newsletter we asked, “how safe does it have to be before we can swim?” The topic generated…
Why you need to get the line right when swimming across the current

In our previous newsletter we looked at the how swimming with or against the current affects your speed. This time…
9 things to do in a race, other than racing

In our previous newsletter we talked about racing and pushing yourself to your limits – something that many of us…
Lewis Gordon Pugh’s swimming secrets

In our February / March 2012 issue of the magazine we chose artic swimmer and environmental campaigner Lewis Gordon Pugh…
What makes Australian open water swimmers so strong?

Rhys Mainstone tells us about Australian swimming, his training, ambitions and desire to grow open water swimming from a grass-roots…
Mark Bayliss – Arch to Arc triumph

Over the weekend of 8th September Mark Bayliss broke the record for the Arch to Arc triathlon in a total…
Let the Children Swim

When looking at open water swimming race results recently I’ve noticed increasing numbers of the letters MY, MJ, FY and…
Glyn Bevans’s Grenada Cross Harbour Swim

My first open water swim completed in March 2012 – no wetsuit!!! However, not in the freezing waters of the…
H2Open 2012 Awards Update

What a great response to the H2Open 2012 Open Water Swimming Awards: almost 50 nominations received already. Keep them coming…
Wetsuits and cold water acclimatisation

As readers will have seen, in Issue 2 we take a serious look at wetsuits. As someone whose route into…
The world’s fastest wetsuits

Over the past week we’ve had the opportunity to test some of the best swimming wetsuits on the market. Needless…
Endurancelife Wild Swim

This weekend (8/5/11) I took part in the inaugural event of adventure racing company Endurancelife’s Wild Swim Series. The swim…