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How swimming 3.8km taught me to love the sea…
Some opportunities are too good to turn down. So when the organisers of the annual BEST Fest in Mallorca called…
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Macmillan All Out Swim challenge – update June 2016
Back in May we interviewed Samantha Brett, who’s training for the 5k Macmillan All Out Swim challenge. Last year, Sam…
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In praise of masters swimming
Don’t worry, we’re not planning to drop open water swimming and return to the confines of the pool, but with…
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Swimming wild: a guide to river pool swimming
Alice Goodridge shares some top tips for exploring river pools and how to stay safe
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The Monte Cristo Escape Swim
Inspired by the Alexandre Dumas novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, Elliot Newsome decided to recreate the escape of Edmond Dantes from…
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Can we have this in the UK please?
Here’s an idea for how local authorities in seaside towns can support open water swimming. Firstly, identify a suitable swimming…
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What it’s like to be rendered unconscious by jellyfish
Last month, British swimmer Anna Wardley attempted to swim from the island of Menorca to Mallorca, the first part of…
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Taper Time
In May we met Sam Brett, who is fundraising for Macmillan by taking on their All Out Swim challenge. The furthest…
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Interview: Scott Dawson – swimming around the Isle of Wight
A few years ago, Scott Dawson weighed 19 stone (~120kg), and decided he needed to do something about it so…
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Man dies due to inactivity
Firstly, apologies for a slightly misleading title on a serious subject, but there’s a point that will become clear below.…
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Brownsea Island Swim 2016
When I was about 10 I did a sponsored swim where I had to do as many lengths as possible…
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Becoming an open water coach
Two weeks ago I took a trip to Walsall and the offices of the STA (Swimming Teachers’ Association) to do…
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Life lessons from open water swimming: nothing great is easy
Can what we learn through swimming help us elsewhere in our lives? I think it can, although the lessons are…
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My first sports injury
Problem: I have my first serious sports injury. A combination of bad posture, cold weather and overuse has led to back…
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Growing pains – Or why I can no longer be both a runner and a swimmer
I knew I had a problem when I find myself lying perfectly still in bed, crying. My knees, back and…
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Go on, dip your toes in!
I learnt to swim as a child. My mother took me and my siblings swimming every week and we learnt…
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Swimming politics Nadhim Zahawi interview
With the start of the open water swimming season coinciding with several articles warning about the dangers of open water,…
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#31miles6days – Harder than expected
When I signed up with #TeamBetter from GLL to swim 31 miles in 31 pools in six days, I didn’t…
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Interview: Jack Burnell
With FINA World Cup wins in Mexico and Hungary, third overall in the 2015 World Cup series and Rio 2016…
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Interview: Chloe Harris
Chloe Harris, who moved to New Zealand from Suffolk when she was 16, has just set what is believed to…
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The Channel: There and back again
Sally Minty-Gravett has swum the English Channel in every decade of her life since she was a teenager. Her first…
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Councils should ban walking or running near water
In 2014, 138 people in the UK drowned after falling in while running or walking alongside water. Forty-six of these…
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Taking on the 5km challenge
Over the past couple of months we have been following Sam Brett, who has signed up to the 5km Macmillan…
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World record three-way Catalina Channel attempt
On 11 August, Robert Palmese will attempt a three-way Catalina Channel crossing. If he succeeds he will be not only the…
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To swim faster, stop caring about it
Asking you to stop caring about how fast you swim in order to swim faster sounds totally counter-intuitive, but bear…
