View from the Water

Gain a fresh perspective as swimmers share their unique viewpoints and reflections on the world from the water's edge.

Nine swimming resolutions for 2013

Clichéd though it is, we couldn’t resist the temptation to offer our New Year swimming resolution tips for 2013. Pick…
What is failure in open water swimming?

In the next issue of H2Open Magazine (Feb/Mar 2012) 2008 Olympic marathon swimming bronze medallist Cassandra Patten shares the story…
The Pied Piper of Cold Water Swimming

Last Saturday South London Swimming Club hosted the bi-annual Cold Water Championships at Tooting Bec Lido. Around 600 people turned…
January 31st Resolutions

Here’s an idea we can’t claim for ourselves but overhead in a conversation: instead of New Year’s Resolutions, how about…
Why don’t triathletes like open water swimming (and what can they do about it)?

We’ve recently spent two weekends at triathlon events (the Bike and Triathlon Show in Manchester and the Triathlon Show in…
Experience and reality in open water swimming

I recently read Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. It’s a book about the way we think and I wasn’t expecting…
Don’t be intimidated by triathletes

We’ve had a few phone calls and emails recently from people who would like to explore open water swimming but…
Why swimming is like music

With running or cycling most people can improve simply by going out and doing more of the activity. Performance is…
Who will qualify?

US-based swimmer and writer Elaine K. Howley has written a piece for us on the history of open water swimming…
How safe does it have to be before we can swim?

It’s been another frustrating weekend for open water swimmers in the UK (following, a frustrating spring and early summer). In…
Why you need to practice open water swimming skills

The team at Swim Smooth put a lot of emphasis on ‘open water skills’ and suggest that swimmers who are…
Dealing with lane etiquette and lane rage

A few weeks back Pauline Squire, bravely in our opinion, posted a comment on the Outdoor Swimming Society’s Facebook page…
How to use a wetsuit to become a non-wetsuit swimmer

At our H2Open Day recently the water temperature was a little over 12 degrees Centigrade. Some people swam in full wetsuits…
Karen Throsby’s Catalina swim

Many thanks to Beth Barnes who featured in our July issue on the I love open water swimming page for…
Speedo Unforgettable Swims

Earlier this year Speedo launched a website atwww.unforgettableswims.com for people to share their favourite swimming memories. Interestingly, although perhaps unsurprisingly, many…
The English Channel

Next issue is our English Channel special. We look at why this particular crossing has become the must-do swim for…
Thank the volunteers

As a relatively competent and confident swimmer I don’t usually pay too much attention to the rescue boat volunteers at…
WOWSA Nomination

When someone else singles you out for praise, and then makes a video about your achievements, it’s difficult to know…
Great Salford Swim

It was the British Gas Great Salford Swim on Sunday (15th May) so we sent along our editor to make sure…
Sarah’s swim training – step 2

I’m walking the length of a pool, face in the water blowing bubbles, with one arm outstretched in front of…
Richard Branson talks about The Swim

If you didn’t know already, Richard Branson and Ronan Keating announced earlier this year their intention to swim the Irish…
Sarah’s swim training – step 3

Week three of the Swim for Tri Learn Front Crawl class (http://bit.ly/muH5V6) and I am making progress. After two weeks…
Summer madness

Back in February when we launched H2Open we thought it would be fun to produce a special summer issue on…
Electronic subscriptions now available

At last! It has taken us a while to iron out some technical issues, but we can now finally offer…
Thinking ahead

We had a team meeting this morning (18/4/11) to firm up what’s going into issue 3, coming out in June.…