View from the Water

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

Mindful swimming: six fun things to try while swimming to keep you focused on the moment

Swim down and meet the fish With swimming, it’s easy to get wrapped up in performance measures (how far did…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Staying on message

On a hot, sunny afternoon earlier this month I went out for a paddle on the Thames and came across…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Keep it clean

It’s reasonable, I suppose, to assume open water swimmers prefer to practise their sport in clean water. Nobody really likes…
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…
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…
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…