December 2025 ‘Venues & Community’
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Welcome to our last issue of 2025. This issue is a celebration of our swim venues, swim spots, pools and communities. Thank you to everyone who submitted a photo for our December cover search. We have pulled together a selection of our favourites but our winning cover was taken by Rob Eyton-Jones of his swimming pal Rebecca Gentek entering Lochan na h-Achlaise on Rannoch Moor, Scotland. We loved the wild and wintry look of this swimming spot.
Whether you are lucky enough to have a river, lake, pond or ocean near your home or if you pay to swim at a local open water venue or pool, where we swim shapes us. Swimming can be a solitary sport once our goggles are on and our heads are down, but so much of it is about community. I wouldn’t be the swimmer I am today if it wasn’t for the people I had met in dipping communities and or at local swimming lakes and pools. Our regular swim spots mean something to us. It could be the beauty of the location or the people you meet when you swim but having a place to swim where you feel safe and confident is essential.
There is a patch of river that I know so well, I can spot if it has changed in any way since my last swim. I know the riverbed as well as I know the best entry and exit points along the riverbank. It might not be every swimmer’s choice of swim spot, but it is one that suits me and brings me joy.
I also know from visiting open water venues for over 20 years that while I prefer a free-swimming spot, managed lakes and pools have their own special place in many swimmers’ hearts, including mine. While non-swimming folk may be puzzled at the prospect of paying to plunge into a cold-water lake in the middle of December, we all know that on the bleakest of days, when you don’t know what to do with yourself, having a community of like-minded people stripping off and swimming with you is worth so much more than the ticket price. I love to see the community thrive at my local lake. There is always someone to keep you company, pull up a chair at the fire pit or help you peel off your neoprene socks. Us swimmers are so grateful to the teams that run these spaces, who keep us safe, stoke the fires and offer hot drinks.
Wherever you are swimming this month, I hope it is warm with community and full of joy!
Ella Foote, Editor
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