Readers' Swims

Immerse yourself in fellow swimmers' personal narratives, sharing their swimming stories and memorable experiences.

Stormy weather

Outdoor Swimmer reader Jacqui Hargrave is training to swim the 10-mile length of Windermere this summer.
Wild swimming spot – Dancing Ledge, Dorset

Anthony Cook and ‘support team’ escaped the hum of the South-East to the tranquillity of a deserted sea pool I…
My Swim Story – Mike Dawson

MS sufferer Mike Dawson is aiming to become the first person with MS to swim across the English Channel Swimming…
Cappuccino warm-up

It’s fair to say that so far, having had the wettest June since records began, and a distinct lack of…
My swim story

My swim story began four years ago. I was forced to give up my beloved running after my hip collapsed…
Duane and Mike’s Excellent Wild Swimming Adventure

Swimming outdoors comes in many forms, from a life-affirming dip in a tarn on a moor-top to crossing the English…
How swimming 3.8km taught me to love the sea…

Some opportunities are too good to turn down. So when the organisers of the annual BEST Fest in Mallorca called…
The Monte Cristo Escape Swim

Inspired by the Alexandre Dumas novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, Elliot Newsome decided to recreate the escape of Edmond Dantes from…
Open water swimming is my life buoy

Set in the stunning county of Dorset, United Kingdom. Challengers swim or kayak the length of Bournemouth Bay from Sand…
A short Caribbean crossing

Liz Torode took one of seven SwimTrek spots on a swimming holiday to Nevis, where she took part in a…
Malta Gozo Malta swim

Last Saturday, I participated in the Malta Gozo Malta 11km swim organised by the Birkirkara Saint Joseph Club together with…
My first ever open water swim

My heart pounded, my mind froze and my primal instinct took over. It had been the moment I had been…
Collecting medals at the 10th Russian Winter Swimming Championships

As if swimming 1km in 0.8 degree water wasn’t enough, Rory Fitzgerald decided to linger in Murmansk a further two…
Rory Fitzgerald chills out at the first World Ice Swimming Championships

Rory Fitzgerald has just returned from Russia where, on 20 March 2015, he took part in the first World Ice…
Camlough Lake Water Festival

The big guns are kept for the final day at the Camlough Lake Water Festival. After a morning of shorter…
Beating the Race of Alderney

David Coleman recently became the third person to swim from the Channel Island of Alderney to France, and hence the…
Something nasty beneath the surface in the North Channel

Swim coach and occasional H2Open contributor Ed Williams set out to swim the North Channel on 3 September 2014. It…
Overlord 70 Relay – swimmers tackle the Channel 70 years after D-Day

Ed Williams took part in the first English Channel relay of the 2014 on Sunday 8 June, two days after…
Curaçao Channel Swim

Erwin Ruijsink was part of a team that conceived, planned and executed two crossings of the Curaçao channel between the…
The Chillswim experience – from a Spanish perspective

Daniel Pagés of Swim the Costa Brava took part in the 2014 Chillswim. Normally used to swimming in the Mediterranean,…
The BLDSA 8-mile Torbay Swim 2014

Helen Beveridge travelled down from Inverness to take part in one of the BLDSA’s longer and more challenging events –…
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…
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…