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 ways to find your swimming flow

If you swim regularly, you presumably do so because you find the activity intrinsically enjoyable*. You may also have noticed…
View from the water – Make the world better for swimming

Do something in 2018 to make the world better for swimming, says Simon Griffiths It’s that time of year when…
Ross Edgley completes epic Great British Swim

On 4 November, Ross Edgley completed his epic 1792-mile Great British Swim around the British Isles. Outdoor Swimmer’s Joanne Jones…
Summer swimming hazards, Lake Zurich and the European Championships

Last Sunday we were at the Thames Marathon meeting swimmers flushed with the success of swimming 14km down the Thames…
View from the water – Interview with water safety campaigner Rebecca Ramsay

In the September 2017 issue I wrote about my experience of appearing on BBC Breakfast Television to talk about water…
Countdown to Christmas

Here at Outdoor Swimmer we are counting down to the Christmas holidays! Up until 17 December (when we start our…
Don’t panic! Practise what you preach

On Sunday I went to the dark side and took part in a triathlon. Apart from a sprint tri I…
How to support the creation of a Marine Conservation Zone in Studland Bay

Image: Seahorse Swim 2017 It’s a fairly safe assumption that most of us who swim do so because we enjoy…
Last hurrah of summer, swimming from Rampion Wind Farm and the Hurly Burly

It is a final hurrah of summer before we start to thrill to the chill of winter swimming. Last weekend…
Cold water tips, catch & pull focus and how to maintain swim fitness while injured

So we can now pretty much say goodbye to the main season of outdoor swimming. As water temperatures start to…
Five experiments you can do with your swimming

An Endless Pool is a good place to experiment with your swimming Usually when we try new things in swimming…
The OSS Dart 10k 2017 *Warning* This swim may lead to an Outdoor Swimming Addiction…

The Outdoor Swimming Society’s Dart 10k is in its eighth year; growing from 200 swimmers on a single day in…
The importance of being acclimatised

‘To lose one swimmer may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose 30 looks like carelessness.’ Ok, so they weren’t…
Swimming, fast and slow

Swimming performance is a strange thing. If you’re relatively new to the sport you will almost certainly be able to increase…
Swim and Eat at the new Thames Lido in Reading

Outdoor swimming frequently involves changing under a towel in a muddy car park before slipping into cold murky water followed…
To breathe or not to breathe, that is the question

Tom Kean is a co-founder of Selkie Swim Co and a regular masters swimmer. He’s been experimenting with a new breathing…
You don’t need to swim an Ice Mile to be a real outdoor swimmer

Image: cold water swimmers having fun at Tooting Bec lido No. Definitely not. Not even tempted. Forget about it. I’m…
View from the Water – It’s not a case of ‘out with the old, in with the new’

In our six years as H2Open Magazine, and now as Outdoor Swimmer, we’ve always been guided by the principle that…
Is it safe to swim in the River Thames?

The Thames has a reputation as a dirty river. It’s not totally undeserved. I took part in the notorious Hampton…
This month we swam with… #Chester Frosties

Simon Griffiths took a dip in the Dee with an outdoor swimming group from the North West It started, as…
Keeping warm in cool water

A look at the research study behind FINA’s controversial ruling on wetsuit use in elite swimming events Back in 2014,…
The art of pace versatility

From what I’ve observed, many swimmers have about three or four gears for their swimming: all out sprint, hard training…
Seven things to think about for open water swimming races in rough conditions

The first indication I had that the Spetses Swim* would be a little rougher than I’d anticipated was in the…
How long do people have to train to swim the English Channel?

I was asked this question through the website Quora, and this is the answer I gave. If anyone who has…
Can early morning swimming make you rich?

At the pool this morning I overheard a teacher giving his students a pep talk. It went something like this:…