NEWS

Hundreds of swimmers expected at the Outdoor Swimming Society’s December Dip

Hundreds of swimmers are expected this Saturday at the Outdoor Swimming Society’s December Dip at Parliament Hill Lido on London’s Hampstead Heath. The event includes an Arctic Adventurers Wave, the Best Dressed Dipper Cup and the WInter Book Talk. The 2017 event theme is based on The Twelve Days of Christmas and swans have been captured* from the River Thames for the swans-a-swimming relay race, lords will be leaping in for a mass dip and there will be the very best of imaginative swimmers’ creations too. Swimmers can also opt to give a disabled child a swimming lesson for Christmas, by taking the plunge with charity Level Water.

“The water is going to be baltic,” says Kate Rew, Director and Founder of the OSS. “There is no better way to discover the addictive nature of cold water swimming and get that glow you have only read about in books!”

This year the event will also celebrate some of the very best creative and literary responses to the joys of outdoor swimming. Join Kate as she hosts a panel discussion with Jenny Landreth (author of ‘Swell: a Waterbiography’), Joe Minihane (author of ‘Floating: a Life Regained’), Alexandra Hemingsley (author of ‘Leap In’) and Tanya Shadrick (writer-in-residence at Pells Pool, Sussex, the UK’s oldest freshwater lido).

The fun starts at 10.30am on Saturday 2 December. Tickets are available at https://www.outdoorswimmingsoc…

*No swans were harmed; only inflatable swans will be used at the event.

Stay up to date with The Dip, our free weekly outdoor swimming newsletter.

Jonathan is a year-round skins swimmer with a particular love of very cold water. He has competed in ice swimming competitions around the world. He is a qualified open water coach with a particular love of introducing new swimmers to the open water.