Readers' Swims
Immerse yourself in fellow swimmers' personal narratives, sharing their swimming stories and memorable experiences.
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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…
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A short Caribbean crossing
Liz Torode took one of seven SwimTrek spots on a swimming holiday to Nevis, where she took part in a…
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Malta Gozo Malta swim
Last Saturday, I participated in the Malta Gozo Malta 11km swim organised by the Birkirkara Saint Joseph Club together with…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Camlough Lake Water Festival
The big guns are kept for the final day at the Camlough Lake Water Festival. After a morning of shorter…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Curaçao Channel Swim
Erwin Ruijsink was part of a team that conceived, planned and executed two crossings of the Curaçao channel between the…
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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,…
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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…
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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 –…
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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…
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Aquanuts do the double
On Friday 20 June I went for a little swim with three of my friends: we swam across the English…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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”…
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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…
