News
News from the world of outdoor swimming. Stay updated with stories and events that matter to the swim community.
- We’re swimming 60K in November! Will you do it too?
We, the Outdoor Swimmer team, are excited to be joining the world’s most ambitious virtual swim – #SwimTrek60K - Guildford Lido celebrates winter opening with free open day
Outdoor Swimmer attended Guildford Lido’s open day to run an ‘Introduction to Open Water’ session - Mental Health Swims announces closure after six years of community impact
Mental Health Swims, the volunteer-led community that has supported thousands of people across the UK through inclusive, peer-led swimming meetups, has announced its closure due to a lack of sustainable funding - October in the open water community
Mental Health Swims announces new Swim Together partnerships and NOWCA reveals how anyone can start their open water journey at any time of life - Outdoor swimmers who have lived experienced of psychosis wanted for a new study
Are you an outdoor swimmer who has lived experience of psychosis? - London Assembly launches Swimmable Rivers report
On Friday, 19 September, Zack Polanski and other members of the London Assembly Environment Committee gathered by the Thames in Ham to launch their report “Swimmable rivers: Towards clean and healthy waterways in London” - The campaigning mermaid: Lindsey Cole
This month, ‘mermaid’ Lindsey Cole is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for longest distance swum using a mono fin as part of her ongoing campaign for cleaner waterways - Endurance swimming and activism: a towpath perspective on the Thames Relay
Between the 1st and 4th of September, 2025, a team of world-class swimmers swam a non-stop relay down the River Thames, covering more than 200 km in 3 days. Lucy Young witnessed them finishing the non-tidal section at Teddington Lock, where they had a brief break to wait for the tide. - Elite athletes are swimming length of River Thames demanding action on the sewage crisis
Eight world-class and Olympic swimmers representing the UK’s four nations are swimming 200km in relay from the source of the River Thames, arriving at Parliament on 4 September - Blind Ambition: watch Gerrard Gosens’ incredible story
In July, blind athlete Gerrard Gosens attempted to swim the 20 Bridges circumnavigation of Manhattan Island and the English Channel in the same month. A new film, Blind Ambition, charts his remarkable challenge. - How I became the first woman to swim from Red Sands Forts
My journey and introduction to outdoor swimming started in 2018 after I had a harebrained idea: I wanted to swim the Channel! I had no previous open water experience. My pool swimming was self-taught, with no history of club swimming or any coaching… - September in the open water community
Nowca reveals a new swimming venue in the Worcestershire countryside, and Mental Health Swims share why autumn is the ideal time to join a local swim group