How to host a swimmers’ swish

Exchange your barely worn booties and ill-fitting goggles for a kit bag or second hand changing robe – all without spending a penny. Read our guide to hosting a swimmers’ clothes swap.

Whether it’s for Christmas, a birthday or any other gift-giving occasion, at some point I imagine we’ve all been giving swimming kit that don’t quite fit, suit or hit the mark. January is also a prime time for reviewing your swimming clutter by considering how much you used it over the past year. 

Most of us also probably have an item or two that we bought, which didn’t quite fit yet is non-returnable, or something we used once and discovered to be not quite right. Reuse is a great way to reduce material consumption and finding new owners for your unloved swimming kit can be done in a cheap and social way by hosting a swimmers’ swish.

A swish is a clothes swapping event. You bring along your barely worn neoprene booties and ill-fitting goggles, and take home a kit bag or second hand changing robe. 

Often organised by community groups as a fundraiser, some swishing events ask participants to bring an entry fee as well as items to give away. Why not forgo the cash donation and simply arrange a date and place for local swimmers to gather and bring items of kit that are in need of a new owner. 

It could be as simple as holding a swish with friends before a regular swim, or venture into social territory by holding it at a beach hut or at a swimmer’s house where there’s warmth and time for trying things on. Anything left over at the end of the event can be taken to a charity shop so everybody can take the opportunity to declutter.

This article is from the January 2023 issue of Outdoor Swimmer. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.

To see all the online content from the January 2023 issue of Outdoor Swimmer, visit the 'Rest & Reflection' page.