View from the Water
Gain a fresh perspective as swimmers share their unique viewpoints and reflections on the world from the water's edge.
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Eleven Ways to Cope with the Chlorine Box
Becoming an outdoor swimmer can completely change your view of swimming pools. What you once thought of as warm becomes…
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View from the water – Dreaming of a planet fit for swimming
We should be able to swim wherever we like without risk of illness or injury from pollution or environmental damage…
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The unexpected and unwanted consequences of FINA’s poorly conceived wetsuit ruling
Wetsuits: will we lose our right to choose in future? Earlier this year FINA, the world governing body for swimming,…
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Creating a Parkrun for open water swimming
Parkrun has transformed the world of running. The 5km distance is far enough to challenge potential runners to get started…
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“Is it safe to swim in the river?”
Is it safe to swim here? I live about 100m from the Thames. The other day, a delivery driver knocked…
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View from the Water – Outdoor swimming communities are awesome
Originally built in the 1930s, Bude Sea Pool has been a popular swimming spot for generations and is the top…
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A few lessons from 2Swim4Life
This year I took part in my first ever 2Swim4Life event. I wasn’t brave (or foolhardy) enough to take on…
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The David Wilkie problem
Last week, a few of the national papers picked up on a swimming related story that’s relevant to anyone who…
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We’re changing, but we’re also staying the same
Image: saying goodbye to H2Open but hello to Outdoor Swimmer We are changing our name to Outdoor Swimmer and increasing…
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Treat the options in open water swimming as a menu, not a ‘to do’ list
What do you want from open water swimming? I used to do a bit of triathlon, which is a very…
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Swimming for Good with Aspire
Image: Aspire Channel Swimmers’ dinner with guest speaker Kevin Murphy Starting eight years ago, Aspire, the spinal injuries charity, has…
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When is a swim more than just a swim?
Image: Steve Wand Memorial Swim (c) Neil Gear Towards the end of 2015, a bunch of guys gathered at Charlton…
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Water is dangerous; swimming is relatively safe
The recently released statistics from the Water Incident Database (WAID) show that 321 people drowned in the United Kingdom in…
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Don’t let the clock spoil your open water swim
Last weekend I took part in Swim Serpentine, a new open water event on the UK calendar. It ran over…
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A few reasons why swimming isn’t a waste of time
Last week the Telegraph posted a story with the alarming and misleading headline: “Most swimmers are wasting their time, say…
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A tale of two swims
This weekend I took part in two very different swims. The first, the Great Newham London Swim, had more than…
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Staying on message
On a hot, sunny afternoon earlier this month I went out for a paddle on the Thames and came across…
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You get what you train for (mostly)
Last weekend was the infamous BLDSA Champion of Champions in Dover Harbour. I took part for the second time and…
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A never-ending swimming journey
Often in swimming we set goals with a clearly defined end point: complete an open water mile, swim the length…
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Hold your line and keep on swimming
During a Q&A at the RLSS Open Water Festival last weekend a swimmer asked: “What should I do if I’m…
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More on the power of pacing
I hope this isn’t beginning to sound repetitive but I want to talk about pacing, again. I have new data…
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Keep it clean
It’s reasonable, I suppose, to assume open water swimmers prefer to practise their sport in clean water. Nobody really likes…
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H2Open celebrates five years – with a pool party!
It might seem slightly ironic for a magazine that promotes open water swimming that we decided to celebrate five years…
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Don’t talk open water swimming down
This weekend we had a stand at Swim Expo in Manchester. We like events as they’re great places to talk…
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Don’t follow your dreams
I have a confession to make. For the past few months my swimming has been pretty much confined to the…