Returning to Windermere: My Great North Swim Experience

Rowan Clarke revisits her first-ever open water event at the Great North Swim.

“Are open water swimming events a thing?” I remember asking myself in September 2014. It turned out they were. A quick online search, and I would find the event that changed everything.

Almost 12 years later, I went back to Lake Windermere as a completely different swimmer in what feels like a completely different era to participate in the Great North Swim, one of the UK’s best-known open water swimming events. So, what did this swimming time machine trip show me?

Back to the beginning

Emerging from a post-natal fog after my third baby, I wanted a new activity, to get fit and do something for me. Friends had signed up for the Bristol 10k and Bath Half, but running wasn’t for me. I’d always loved swimming, though.

Like a lot of new outdoor swimmers, I didn’t expect it become my whole lifestyle. Returning to the Great North Swim 2026 reminded me of this. Standing at the front of the ‘Outdoor Swimmer’ pink 1-mile wave with my colleagues Abi and Jo beside me and a microphone in my hand, I asked my fellow swimmers the question, “Who’s here for their first open water swimming event?” About half the crowd raised their hands. I recognised the nervous excitement on their faces, and wondered how many would emerge the other end completely hooked on outdoor swimming.

Ready to swim

At the start of our wave, we gathered for the pre-swim warm-up. Unlike events where you just get a safety briefing, the GNS does an excellent pre-swim pep-talk and arm-swinging, helping turn nerves into excitement before the one mile open water swim.

Sufficiently hyped, we headed into the infamous lake. The swim wasn’t as easy as I remembered thanks to a westerly wind and cool temperatures. I was thankful for the intervening years of swimming in the Bristol Channel which meant I wasn’t fazed by the chop, even though it did slow me down. I was also thankful for my wetsuit, as I suspect many swimmers are at this kind of cold water swimming event.

Even on a cool, windy day, Lake Windermere is majestic. The past decade hasn’t been easy, though. As I swam, I thought about its decline, news of which organisers told us had put some people off the event. Sewage pollution, nutrient over-enrichment and climate change have accelerated toxic algae blooms and threatened native species, adding urgency to conversations about water quality in Lake Windermere.

Of course, the event organisers tested the water quality and presence of algae thoroughly in the run up to the event, and so we were reassured that it was safe to swim.

For the lake

With more than 6,000 swimmers taking part in the Great North Swim across the weekend, it’s an important event for the region and for raising awareness about the plight of Lake Windermere—the more people take part, the more pressure there is to clean up the lake.

This awareness of water quality is one of the ways outdoor swimming has changed in the last decade; those problems existed eleven years ago, but our understanding, campaigning and citizen science did not.

The event itself has also changed since 2015. While there were stall holders back then—it’s where I first met Simon Griffiths, Outdoor Swimmer’s founder—it’s grown significantly.

In 2018, the Great North Swim permanently relocated to the 30-acre Brockhole on Windermere, expanding the swimming event village with local food vendors, talks, family entertainment, and craft beer tents so it feels like a festival.

There are more inclusive swimming options, too. It’s still renowned for being brilliant for newbies—safe, accessible, achievable, with slick organisation and thorough safety. And with distances and waves across the weekend from 250m to the marathon 10km, it’s also relaxed wetsuit regulations for skins swimming, and introduced a women-only swimming wave, quiet swim waves for anxious swimmers who want more space, and alternative water sports like stand-up paddleboarding.

The journey

For me, returning to the wonderful event didn’t just show me how far outdoor swimming has come—it also brought home how much my life has transformed. For a start, I think the choppy water would have freaked me out in 2015, but my swim was a total joy.

But rather than being the nervous newbie listening to the pre-swim hype, I was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with my Outdoor Swimmer colleagues, offering encouragement before people swam. I also met brilliant swimmers on our stand, including Outdoor Swimmer reader Cora after her 10km swim, which she won in our golden ticket competition.

The Great North Swim remains very special. It’s joyous, beautiful, inclusive, and an important event on the outdoor swimming calendar. And for me personally, returning to Windermere was a reminder of where my outdoor swimming journey began—and just how far it has carried me.

Fancy taking part next year? With distances from 250m to 10k, there’s a swim for everyone at the Great North Swim 2027.

June 11-13, Brockhole-on-Windermere