Readers' Swims

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

Glow Swimming: a new way to experience open water

As a triathlete, at most events I’m given the same things on registration. Swim hat, timing chip, race numbers and…
Cross-country runner to open water swimmer

After injury forced my reluctant retirement from athletics after 40 years – the last 17 of them as an international…
In the wake of Mercedes Gleitze

I grew up on the Causeway coast of Ireland in a little seaside town called Portstewart. I am now 33, a…
Always try to say yes (to open water swimming)

Tel Aviv, Yaron Davidi and Frank Turner’s wisdom I love music; it’s nearly as important to me as swimming. A…
Brian Kinsella’s perfect day

In all my 54 years I have never been a good swimmer: out of breath after 2 lengths of a…
Mark Robson tackles Windermere

Lake Windermere features highly on many aspiring Channel Swimmer’s training to do lists but at 10.5 miles long it is…
Southend to All Hallows to Leigh on Sea

It started one spring day in Leigh on Sea as an idle bet over a pint with a couple of…
Jim Boucher’s 2012 Ederle Swim

Regular long distance swim Jim Boucher sent us this report of his recent swim from the southern tip of Manhattan…
Aspire Manx Minkes Channel Swim

Jill Bunyan recently completed an English Channel relay crossing raising an impressive £17,000 for Aspire, the spinal cord injury charity,…
Fighting swim in Firth of Forth

A handful of swimmers, mostly with connections to British Gas, decided to tackle one of the UK’s most famous estuaries…
One Foot in the Wave – oldest English Channel relay

Michael Jennings, an English Channel swimmer in 1960, just doesn’t know when to give up. Now 74 years young he…
The Gladiator’s world swimming tour

Becoming an English Channel swimmer is tough, as we discovered in Oct / Nov 2011 issue of H2Open. For Thomas Noblett…
Crossing long island sound

Bruce Olinder shares a family open water swimming tale from Long Island Sound Did you ever stand on the shore…
David Coleman – two-way Windermere

This was a swim that was not meant to happen this year. I had planned to swim from Jersey to…
Matt Baker – Henley to Marlow solo

Two months after the official Henley Swim Bridge to Bridge event, I swam the same 14.1km course between the landmark…
Chris Smith – Escaping Alcatraz

Chris Smith only learnt to swim at the age of 46, at a time where a spinal injury prevented him…
A 10km Dart Adventure by Simon James

A couple of years ago I joined the Outdoor Swimming Society after reading a book called Wild Swim by Kate…
I loved every single stroke – Part 2 (The Swim – Windermere two-way)

For Part 1 (training) – see here.On 6 August 2013, the day before my swim, I met my guide for the…
I loved every single stroke – Part 1

Back in November 2012 I started doing some additional training for an 800m time trial, which I managed to do…
John Wheaton’s failure to sight properly at the Emerald City open water swim

“Where’s the turn buoy?” one of my fellow swimmers asked. We were treading water, waiting for the start gun at…
Fit to fat to fit again – Ed Williams recounts his swimming journey to the North Channel

Ed Williams is a swimming teacher based in Cambridge and an extreme marathon swimmer. He’s aiming to take on one…
A dog ate my clothes, Officer

Dogs eating books has been a standard excuse for students ever since homework was invented, but how about dogs eating…
How I became a Scilly girl

Lou Walker took part in the first-ever 15k Scilly Swim Challenge in September 2014 – and she’d whole-heartedly recommend it,…
How Rhona McGregor overcame her fears and fell in love with open water

‘Open water swimming! Are you mad?’ Well, that’s what people say when you tell them you spend your Sunday mornings…
Train for the worst and hope for the best – it might happen

Garry Seghers took part in an English Channel relay this summer for Diabetes UK. He shares his experience here. A…