From weirdos to a way of life

A lot has changed in 21 years, especially in the swimming industry. Andrea and Pete Kelly, who run Swim the Lakes in the Lake District, celebrate their 21st business birthday this year. Here, Pete reflects on their work and how open water swimming has changed

We often think back to when we first began guiding swims 21 years ago. We had our little shop in Ambleside, which was the hub of everything we did and still is. It was important to us from the outset to appeal specifically to open water swimmers, and to give everyone who came through the door a warm welcome. Life was so much fun, and still is, but the fact that we were very much on our own was thrilling!

I remember trying to get insurance for our swimming trips. It was hard work, as no one could categorise us! Everything was new and exciting, the water seemed colder and the weather more typically British, and everyone thought you were a wierdo if you swam outdoors. My mam was always saying “I know you love it Peter, but is it safe?!” We used to get local press and TV people calling us up to do funny ‘local interest’ pieces on our business. They thought it was hilarious that we went swimming outside in February… and with our dog! Oh, how they laughed.

Other than a dip in the sea on your summer hols, open water swimming was more serious back then. There was the British Long Distance Swimming Association and Channel swimming crowd, the originals. Then there were the triathletes, super keen and performance focused, always asking how cold the water was. Everyone was either swimming really far, or really fast! It wasn’t something your average person found easy to fit into.

At the time we had a wonderful group of friends we used to swim with, and we’d go all over the Lakes exploring exciting new places to swim. Thanks to them, we realised we had a unique set of skills and experience that allowed us to offer a different kind of swimming; we called it adventure swimming.

We began guiding swimming adventures and courses in the Lake District, promoting swimming for the fun of it, giving people a chance to get involved in a safe, inclusive way in a fantastic environment. Looking back, though, many of our early trips were quite full on, really only suitable for genuinely fit and rugged individuals.

A few other things were going on at that time that changed people’s perception of open water swimming. ‘Wild swimming’ became a thing, thanks to those great books by Daniel Start and Kate Rew; H2Open Magazine began publication, and the first mass participation swims arrived in the guise of The Great North Swim. Outdoor swimming began its slow ascent into the mainstream.

And boy, was it slow! The governing bodies of swimming and lifesaving took a long time to come on board, and wetsuit manufacturers have only just begun designing for a non-competitive market. Still, over the years we, and the rest of the industry, experienced a steady growth in converts to the wild swimming family. Swimming outdoors is too good not to share, and as a nation we were re-discovering our love of the water, and it was a joy to behold.

Then Covid happened and it all went a bit mental. The Covid years saw a huge increase in outdoor swimming participation (a 400% increase, we were told). Great news up to a point, but certain locations became overcrowded for the first time. In the Lakes, pristine wild places were getting trashed, and it was heartbreaking. Things have calmed down since, but as a business we’re more cautious about where we take groups and how we promote them, conscious of our impact on our beloved rivers, lakes and tarns.

Many of the post-Covid new wave were what we’d affectionately call “dippers”. We quickly reworked many of our trips to accommodate this new class of swimmer, finding joy in easy-going adventures in the quieter, more intimate corners of the Lake District, swimming around the lilies and admiring the damsel flies rather than racing by, blind to the beauty, chasing miles. What we offer has benefited from this change in approach, reflecting what we originally set out to achieve: to be the friendly face of open water swimming and ambassadors for responsible, safe swimming.

The past few years have seen more change. The cost-of-living crisis, financial uncertainty, climate change and concerns over water pollution all equate to uncertain times for small business owners like us. But what continues to bring us great joy as swim guides is the positive effect wild swimming has on our visitors. In carefully leading swimmers into our world of bottomless glacial ribbon lakes, high mountain tarns and waterfall pools, we reveal a way of complete immersion in the natural world, which we are clearly part of, not apart from. It’s a balm for the soul, and it helps us all cope.

We intend to celebrate our 21st birthday with more exciting swims, from short guided wild swims to multiday adventures for all abilities. In the Lakes we have so much water to play with, and we’ve never been short of ideas, so we make the most of it to keep people coming back. We also plan free social swimming events at our Ambleside shop and our fav lakes this year and next, a nice way of giving back to our incredibly supportive friends and clients. Thanks so much, we love you all!

Happy swimming, we’ll see you in the water.