World of water

From the Sea Nomads to ultra-marathon swimmers, Rowan Clarke explores swimming around the world

Water is everywhere. It covers 71 per cent of the Earth’s surface, and no known living organism can survive without it. For humans, water is intrinsic to our history, sport, leisure, religion and culture – even to our evolution, according to some theories.

With this in mind, it’s fascinating that humans can’t innately swim. However, we do have the capacity to learn. More significantly, we have this incredible, universal draw to the water that has no boundaries. But why?

Aquatic apes

To answer that, it helps to go right back to the primordial swamp. In her book, The Descent of Woman, ground-breaking evolutionary theorist Elaine Morgan presents the aquatic ape theory. As theories go, it’s not watertight (pun intended) or especially popular among anthropologists. But it does go some way to explaining our fascination with getting into water.

It hypothesises that after pre-humans came down from the trees, they lived in coastal areas, spending a lot of time in the water. It highlights features that we share more commonly with aquatic mammals than other apes, like our lack of body hair, thick subcutaneous fat and large sinuses. It doesn’t propose that our early ancestors swam like aquatic mammals, though. Rather, they waded in their depth – hence why we now walk upright. As evidence, it cites the aquatic food early hominids ate, such as weeds, tubers and shellfish, and that fossils are more often found near water than on land.

While this evolutionary theory is disputed, the fact that humans have settled by water throughout existence is not. But have they always swum?

It seems so. In what’s been dubbed the Cave of Swimmers in Egypt, drawings of people swimming have been dated back to around 10,000 years ago. In ancient Greece and Rome, young men were taught to swim as part of their military training. And Japan is credited with holding some of the earliest swimming competitions in 36 BC.

With a rich pre-history and history of early swimming in almost every part of the world, there’s little wonder that it’s a universal activity. But why do humans swim when other unnatural-born swimmers like giraffes and basset hounds don’t?

Drawn to the water

The answer lies in our need for connection. Being in water connects us to each other and the natural world both figuratively and literally. Rivers flow into the sea, oceans connect with one another and atmospheric water evaporates from one place and falls somewhere else.

When Pete swam off the west coast of Wales, he felt a connection to his daughter who was undergoing cancer treatment on the other side of the Atlantic in Canada.

“I used to swim out and shout her name at the top of my lungs,” he says. “I never felt so connected to her as I did when I was in the sea – it brought me great comfort.”

This connection to one another also comes through a shared experience. Bodies of water are impervious to who we are, so swimming in them is very democratic – and that allows us to form meaningful connections that transcend normal social, cultural and physical boundaries.

“Every group we have is wonderful and unique in its own way, depending on the swim host, participants and location,” says Rachel Ashe, founder of Mental Health Swims. “It’s about feeling not just part of your local community but of something bigger.”

Our experience in open water is unifying. From Iceland to South Africa and Canada to New Zealand, you can find Mental Health Swims and Bluetits groups, as well as local groups with very similar ethoses.

“I think people swim outdoors to stay fit and active, enjoy the banter and the coffee afterwards, but equally to just get into the ocean and swim in the elements,” says Janine Sheen who swims with a group called The Positive Swim Squad in Perth, Western Australia. “Every time you swim, even in the same location, it will be different. The wind, the swell, the fish, the octopus, or the swishing seagrass… Every time, it will be a slightly different challenge and it just heightens the senses and makes you feel alive and free.”

We need nature

Increasingly, we understand how and why we need to connect with nature. This stems from the way we evolved, which leaves us so maladapted for the modern lifestyles we’ve created. As a result, people are seeking nature-based therapy, including outdoor swimming – especially in the developed world.

“Our relationship with nature – how much we notice, think about and appreciate our natural surroundings – is critical in supporting good mental health and preventing distress,” says the Mental Health Foundation.

As we’ve developed creature comforts and lifestyles that have alienated us from the natural world, a big part of reconnecting with nature is overcoming our fear of it. Here in the UK, that might be fear of the cold, deep or seaweed. But elsewhere in the world, nature can be really scary.

“Alligators really are everywhere, and while they don’t see us as prey, the bigger ones might get curious, and they’re especially aggressive and territorial during mating season,” says James Macpherson from Louisiana. “There are also venomous snakes and, of course, sharks if you’re swimming on the coast. There was a spate of attacks near Dauphin Island last year, which made the news and caused a lot of anxiety.”

While nature scares people away from swimming outdoors in places like Louisiana where there isn’t a strong swimming culture, the same kinds of dangers are viewed differently elsewhere. For example, in Western Australia where swimming is part of the national identity.

“When we’re swimming in the ocean, we are banned from saying the s-word. If we do say it, we have to parade around in a mankini. No one wants to be wearing a mankini,” says Janine. “We don’t mention sharks because it psyches us out. Not swimming in the ocean would be a travesty, so it is a risk that we have to take, and when I last checked statistics, it was still more dangerous to make your morning toast than to swim in the ocean here.”

It’s a small world

If you were to visit Perth, you’d be able to contact someone like Janine and join her for a swim. It’s something outdoor swimmers often do, building connections and friendships through a mutual love of swimming.

Equally, adventure travel, swim holidays, events, retreats and camps are growing in popularity. We love to expand our horizons – not only by travelling to new places but also by exploring our own swimming capabilities.

“An internet search led me to open-water lessons for beginners, and I booked one in Portugal. Only in hindsight can I truly appreciate how that single session changed everything,” says ultra-marathon swimmer, Zoltan Gyorgyi. “It was August 2022 when, in the waters of Cascais, the initial rush of adrenaline hit me as I started my firstever open-water swim. From there, fast-forwarding time, I joined relaxed swimming holidays and looked for open-water opportunities wherever I travelled.”

From dipping in the sea on holiday to crossing oceans, there are so many opportunities around the world to explore our swimming. At the time of writing this feature, our editor, Ella, happened to meet Zoltan on a beach in Lanzarote. It’s a small world when you’re an outdoor swimmer.

Nature nature

Our ability to explore outdoor swimming around the world is down to the fact that it’s so democratic. A body of water doesn’t care who you are or where you’re from. But local laws, customs, culture, beliefs and socio-economic circumstances do.

“Swimming is my identity; I’ve been swimming all my life,” says ex-professional Sudanese swimmer Wafa Suliman in a short film for Open Minds Active, where she now coaches. “We did competitions in The Nile… The regime was very restrictive, so they didn’t allow us to go far. Most of the places I represented Sudan was like Iran, for example, because it’s a Muslim country.”

In some countries, swimming simply isn’t as sewn into the culture as it is in others.

“Nepal is still a developing country, and physical activities, especially for women, can still be regarded as a privilege and not a must in some parts of the country,” says Prabina Talary, who now shares the joy of swimming with the Nepalese community in the UK. “Fortunately, from the age of four to 10 years old, I was brought up in Hong Kong as my dad was in the British Army as a Gurkha, where I had the opportunity to learn how to swim along with my sister.”

At the other end of the spectrum, there are the places where swimming isn’t about leisure, escape or pleasure, but a part of daily life. For example, around Indonesia and Thailand are small, nomadic, freediving tribes who have evolved to have larger spleens so that they can hold their breath longer and dive deeper than most other humans.

In her book Water Babies, Francoise Barbira Freedman describes living with an Amazonian tribe for a year.

“‘Our’ river ran quite fast, but there were safe shallows for women to wash clothes and children to play-swim,” she writes. “Small children help mums to catch armoured fish, crayfish, and other delicious water creatures, so diving is an early skill.”

This brings us full circle, all around the world, and back to the fact that for a species of non-swimmers, we are universally obsessed with swimming. There are differences and variations by country, region or area, but the draw to the water is the same human experience, quite possibly because it runs deep in our DNA.

Whatever the reason, we can have no doubt that swimming outdoors connects people all around the world in a multitude of ways. It connects us to each other geographically, spiritually and physically. It connects us to nature and to ourselves.

Outdoor swimming is also something that people love to share through their stories and through guiding or supporting others to swim. This opens up endless opportunities to expand your horizons, travel and explore.

But for now, wherever in the world you’re reading this, you’re connecting with a wonderful global community that loves swimming outdoors. Isn’t that a great feeling?