Boutique swim events: pick of 2010
Fields full of wasted indie bands are so 2009. This summer's best weekends are all about wild swims. Now's the time to buy tickets for the most characterful (and small) swim events this summer - some even come attached to a festival. See below Kate Rew's top picks for 2010. The southern bias is a result of where the events are, so come on the top of the country!
Black Sheep Swim, 27 June, Oxfordshire
The Black Sheep Swim began seven years ago when two renegade rowers decided to swim the Henley Royal Regatta course before the regatta itself began. One swim became a tradition, and the 2.2km is now an annual event, with a misty sunrise start. Entry is £50. http://www.henleyswim.com/
Topsham to Turf, Sat 17th July, Devon
There was just one swimmer in this charity swim in 2006 - Mike the ferryman. He was joined by a few others in 2007, including one OSS passerby who stripped off and jumped in and swam n his underpants. Last year there were 117, so go to join this quirky 1.5 mile estuary swim, which starts at one pub with folk bands and the town crier, and ends at an Exeter institution: the Turf pub. £25 to join, plus raise £25 for the Estuary League of Friends. Contact rachel.estuary@virgin.net.
Port Eliot Wild Swim, 24 July, Devon
Free to those with tickets for the eclectic literary festival in Devon is a one mile estuary swim led by Kate Rew through the cornfields and reed beds of the River Tiddy. Swimmers will be serenaded by local birdlife and the rock and roll fishermen who make up Caught by the river. Registrations will be taken through the Port Eliot office nearer the time. Keep an eye on their website.
Padstow to Rock Swim, 24 July, Cornwall
After fuelling yourself with Rick Stein's fish and chips in Padstow, swim the mile across the Camel estuary to Rock with the man himself to raise money for Macmillan. OK we can't promise Rick Stein, though he did swim it last year, but we can promise stunning dune jewelled coastline. Places are limited to 300 and cost £30. For more information email pcoombs@macmillan.org.uk or call 01209 211 442.
Burgh Island Race, 30 August, South Devon
On 22 August the Burgh Island hotel co-ordinates a one mile Round the Island sea race. A party pad for London society in the 20's and 30's, swimmers are now more likely to enjoy the sight of beautiful rock formations and spider crabs than Agatha Christie or Noël Coward. The growing popularity of this once local race means the hotel now holds heats. The amateur heat is full but more experienced open water swimmers can still apply to take part by emailing reception@burghisland.com.
Swim to Bestival, 10 September, Isle of Wight
The swim to Bestival caught the public imagination so much in 2007 we never stop getting requests about it. People, we can not pull strings, but we can tell you this epic swim across the Solent is a difficult, wonderful endeavour that only 20 people get to take part in prior to being honoured on the main stage at the start of Bestival. The Bestival crew are currently (21st March) working out the logistics, so they have no information yet, but contact them (not us) if you want to take part. www.bestival.net/
Swims up North?
This isn't right, six great quirky events, but all down South. Send your story in to news@outdoorswimmingsociety.com if you can do a different themed selection for next month.
The Nairn's Big Dunk in Scotland on 20th March, a swim to celebrate the start of spring, proved to be a big success with over 50 brave swimmers joining Kate Rew and Rachel Smith from the Outdoor Swimming Society for an icy plunge into the Forth of Firth in North Berwick.
The weather was fine, and swimmers praised the revitalising effects of the cold water.
A big thank you to Nairn's for their support of outdoor swimming, and all swimmers for taking part.
The swim was a big media hit, with photo spreads in Scotland on Sunday, the Sunday Herald, and homepage pics on the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror websites. To read all about it and see some pics, see:
Daily Mail (first feature)
Daily Mail (second feature)
A video of the event may be watched here.
BBC Alba's 'Trusadh' recently featured an episode on wild swimming. The programme (mainly in Gaelic, but with English subtitles) may be watched on iplayer here.
'Old man in the sea' is a short film about swimmer David Sawyers, whose grandfather founded the Brighton Swimming Club 150 years ago. His arthritis makes walking difficult but he swims in the sea every day without pain.
During the film David declares 'swimming has lost its heart', and that 'the understanding to make it a joy, a pleasure, is gone'.
The film was shot in Brighton by Kat Mansoor as part of the 'Against the tide' project, which aims to document people and places on the South East Coast.
Jonathan Knott, March 2010
Kate Rew recently featured on BBC One Planet in an interview at the Serpentine in London. The slideshow can be watched here:
Locals are to be consulted over the future of Tarlair tidal pool in Aberdeenshire.
Visitors once flocked to the pool, which lies in a stunning location on Scotland's northeastern coast, but it has been closed to swimmers since 1996. A model boat club continues to use it. Consultants have just reported their findings and have recommended that the pool is filled in at a cost of £1.3 million.
However, the council has deferred a decision and will consult the public and users before coming to a final view. Reopening the pool to swimmers is not among the options being considered.
The art deco building has been granted category A listed status by Historic Scotland.
There is more information in these links. The Banffshire Journal website has several news reports and features, including people's memories of Tarlair pool.
Jonathan Knott, March 2010
Kate Rew meets Dan Martin, who is inviting OSS members to do a last swim with him before he embarks on his swim across the Atlantic on May 8th.
At the OSS, we are going to be watching Dan Martin closely over the next few months - as closely as it is possible a man who is going to be making his way in a pair of goggles and trunks all the way across the Atlantic.
Dan stands 6ft 5'' ‘and bulletproof' in his trunks and as of Feb 16th weighed in at 20 stone (3 stone short of his target weight). His 3000 mile odyssey is a first: with no flippers, no wetsuit, no snorkel, no sharkcage, and a GPS measuring exactly where he finishes every day and taking him back to that point every morning, his will be the first non-assisted Atlantic swim ever.
(Our caps still come off for Ben Lecomte, who was the first man to make it across in any fashion in 1998. Dan is, perhaps unnecessarily given the size of the undertaking, just making it even more difficult, by not having Ben's giant monofin, wetsuits or an electromagnetic field to protect him from sharks).
‘I did my first ever cold water swim with Bryn from the OSS in April last year,' says Dan, who was last seen at the winter OSS social swim at Pangbourne Meadows in January, bounding through the snow in flip-flops and a bare barrel chest (see pics, he's the one in the GB hat).
As warmly as the 10 degree water temperature allows, he is inviting other OSS members to join him for his last swim before he heads off to start his swim from New York, the Statue of Liberty.
‘I'm going down to Dover on the 1st May which is the opening of channel season - all the channel swimmers go down there and do 20 minutes, no wetsuits, around 9am. It'll be my last swim before I leave. Everyone's welcome to join me. It'll be about 10, 11 degrees, quite warm, and I'm in for 6 hours.'
Keep him company for some of it?
We're fully behind Dan on his epic, brilliant, ‘stoopid' (his spelling), brave and crazy mission, and will keeping right on his toes as he makes his way across. Three and a half thousand miles of cold, deep, dangerous water, with huge waves, massive storm systems, hurricanes, icebergs, strong currents, sharks, poisonous jellyfish and heavy shipping traffic. Some ships can't even do it, so lets hear it for Dan.
Find out more about Dan at his website. Register for the event here.
Coming soon...more on Dan's training.
Kate Rew, February 2010
Last month, Matt Newbury gave us five of his favourite literary island swims in Europe. This month, he talks us through five more, further flung, great island swims.
My passion for island swimming was first awakened when I swam from Alcatraz a couple of years back. I first fell in love with San Francisco years before I ever visited the place, thanks to my teenage obsession with all things Americana. The city has such a colourful history: the gold rush, earthquakes, Levis, the Birdman of Alcatraz, Kerouac, Kesey, Ginsberg, the Merry Pranksters, the Grateful Dead and the legendary acid tests. Woodstock made way for gay liberation, disco and those 70s car chases bouncing down those precarious hills and onto my TV screen 3,000 miles away.
Alcatraz has always proved to be a fascinating enigma to me. A prison island in the middle of one of the most beautiful bays in the world, gazed upon wistfully by those liberal Californians. I was also intrigued by the story that no one incarcerated there had ever managed to cross the frigid and apparently shark-infested waters to their freedom (not counting Sean Connery in The Rock). So when I discovered that their was an annual ‘aquathon’, I signed up straight away with my partner and we started training for the mile and a half swim (and seven mile run across the Golden Gate Bridge and back).
Anyone that knows me will let you know that anything that can go wrong will. The airline lost our suitcases, so we arrived the evening before the swim and run with no wetsuits, goggles, trunks, swim caps and running gear, leaving us a few hours to dash around San Francisco trying to buy and hire everything we needed. When I jumped into the Bay waters at first light, in a wetsuit two sizes to small for me, I panicked a bit and forgot to hold onto my goggles, which flew off my face as I hit the waves.
As I splashed around desperately trying to find the goggles, my partner Aaron swam off, following another chubby person in an orange cap he mistakenly thought was me. A kind canoeist did find the goggles and I began the mile and a half swim, trying to sight the building I had been told to aim for in the misty distance. It was at this point I also kicked myself for not learning bilateral breathing. Every time I turned my head to the right to gasp some air, a wave seemed to fill my mouth with water, perfectly complimenting the liquid stinging my eyes thanks to the badly leaking new goggles.
Despite this list of small disasters, about halfway through the swim I started to really enjoy myself. The Californian sun won a battle with the famous Bay mist and as I took a breather and a 360 degree paddle to look at where I was. I took in the remarkable island, the dust red colour of the most iconic bridge in the world, and the San Francisco skyline with those colourful buildings scattered playfully across those famous seven hills. I'm not sure if it was quite an epiphany, but it was at that moment I thought that I need to do more adventures like this. And also to do something about the chaffing...
The idea of swimming to, from and around famous islands began to develop over the next 12 months, as I began to research potential islands around the world, all with a story to tell. Eventually I narrowed my list down to ten islands in Europe and a further 10 around the rest of the world that I would eventually like to visit and conquer. Here's a handful of my selection, although I'm sure every swimmer with a passion for travel would have different ideas…
ROBBEN ISLAND, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (4.7 miles)
Robben Island gained worldwide notoriety during the apartheid era of South Africa’s history, when several key anti-apartheid political activists including Nelson Mandela and Robert Mangaliso were imprisoned there. The island was used primarily as a prison from the time the Dutch first settled in the Cape in the mid-1600s. It was also used a training and defence station in World War II and a hospital for people with leprosy, as well as the mentally and chronically ill.
Since 1997 it has been a museum and heritage site, running programmes for schools, youths and adults. More than anything, it stands as a symbol of freedom and a stark reminder that we should learn from the wrongs of the past. The swim from Robben Island to Big Bay is considered to be one of the toughest, most extreme long distance cold water sea swim races in the world. The 7.5km across the famous Robben Island channel, is known for its bitterly cold water (around 13 degrees) and strong, unpredictable currents. Oh – and Great White Sharks.
www.cadiz.co.za/events/freedomswim
NEVIS TO ST KITTS, EASTERN CARIBBEAN (2.5 miles)
The islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis are two of the Caribbean's oldest colonised territories separated by just two miles of water, making for a perfect swim through clear and warm tropical waters. Lying near the top of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 200 miles south of Puerto Rico, and just west of Antigua, both paradise islands are blessed with lush green vegetation and the sort of beaches usually only found as screensavers.
The sombrero-shaped island of Nevis proudly carries the name Queen of the Caribees. The larger island of St Kitts is equally as stunning, with white sandy beaches, 19th century plantation inns, lush tropical rainforests, a dormant volcano and a breathtaking waterfall. The days average 85 degrees fahrenheit, tempered by cool sea breezes and very little rain. Indeed it seems amazing that Columbus didn’t just lay down his hat and call it home. The swim across the channel starts on the paradise Oualie Beach on Nevis with clear views across to St Kitts. The swim finishes at Cockleshell Bay, which as the name suggests, is equally as beautiful.
www.neviscycleclub.com
MAGNETIC ISLAND TO TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA (5 miles)
Magnetic Island is a 52km mountainous island which has effectively become a suburb of Townsville in Queensland Australia, thanks to a population nearing 2,500. More than half of the Island's 5,184 hectares is National Park, with Mount Cook in the centre rising to 497 metres. Huge granite boulders are softened by tall Hoop pines, eucalypt forest and small patches of rainforest.
The name of the island came about because of the apparent ‘magnetic’ effect it had on the ship's compass of Captain Cook as he passed the island when sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770. The Townsville swim has been held almost every year since 1954 and takes competitors to the beautiful beachfront on The Strand in Townsville, a distance of 8km. Up until 2008, the swim used shark cages, limiting competitors to just seven or eight.
Declining shark numbers and the fact that the last incident involving a shark in Townsville coastal waters happened in 1951, led to organisers making the event cageless last year. This has opened the swim up to far more people, with around 100 expected to take part in the next race.
www.magneticislandswim.com.au
KO PHI PHI DON TO PHI PHI LEH, THAILAND (One mile)
The Beach is a cult classic by Alex Garland, drawing inspiration from the likes of Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies. In both the book and the Danny Boyle-directed film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, a young backpacker called Richard travels to South East Asia with the intention of experiencing something radically different from his familiar life.
He hears an urban legend about an island paradise where a secret community of travellers who have left behind their former lives have set up their own utopia. To reach the beach described in the book, the trio hop between several islands, finally making a swim to the island described on the map. Ko Phi Phi Leh was the location of the island in the film and the uninhabited island has since become very popular with tourist on daytrips from nearby Phi Phi Don. There is no organised swim to the island, although it is relatively straightforward to book a boat to accompany the one mile swim.
ROBINSON CRUSOE ISLAND, OFF THE COAST OF CHILE (One mile)
Think islands and think Robinson Crusoe, the original castaway in the classic novel by Daniel Dafoe, first published in 1719. But how many people know that not only was there a real Robinson Crusoe, but that there is also an island named after him in the Pacific Ocean 400 miles off the coast of Chile. Robinson Crusoe Island (also known as Juan Fernandez Island after the Portuguese sailor who discovered it) is a rugged volcanic island that was once a favourite refuge of pirates like Edward Davis, John Eaton and Bartholomew Sharp. It became famous in 1708 when Scots sailor called Alexander Selkirk was rescued after spending four years and four months stranded there. His experience inspired Defoe to write the world-famous Robinson Crusoe.
The lost paradise has only recently started to try and attract tourists, with one of the most visited spots being the Cave of Robinson, which is believed to have been the cave where Selkirk lived. The Island of Santa Clara is a mile away from Robinson Crusoe Island and would make the perfect escape swim. The next nearest island (actually called Alexander Selkirk) is 112 miles to the west and probably a bit far to swim! Robinson Crusoe Island was officially named as such by the Chilean government in 1966.
To discuss more island swims, see the facebook discussion thread.
Matt Newbury, February 2010
Kate Rew has interviewed a host of Olympic swimmers and triathlon champions for a feature on pro performance training in this month’s 220 Triathlon magazine. Here are five of the top tips from the pros.
“KEEP YOUR ELBOWS HIGH,” says OSS Patron and Beijing Olympics bronze medal winner Cassie Patten. “Learning how to do this really turned things around for me. My stroke tended to be choppy and came in short. Even though you’re taught to keep it long, you can’t see yourself so it’s not always easy to do. Then, in 2006, my coach told me to keep my elbows high and it automatically lengthened my stroke – you can’t go in choppy with high elbows as it automatically elongates the stroke and increases the glide. A finger trailing drill where you skim fingers across the top of the water, with your elbows high, will help practice this.”
“WEAR A SNORKEL,” Says two-time Olympic swim medallist David Davies. “Not moving your head when you swim is really important to your efficiency. I use a snorkel for the warm-up and cool down to get used to keeping my head still, then, when I come to breathe without it, my head
movement is minimised.”
“LEARN TO BREATHE AND SIGHT,” is the advice from Keri Anne Payne, Olympic 10k silver medallist. “Self-taught swimmers often have an issue with breathing: you want to learn to
breathe out underwater. Also, make sure your head doesn’t go too far around when
you’re swimming. If you rotate so you can see the ceiling, your hips go out of line and you’ll
be snaking along the pool. Get someone to check that you just have your eyes and mouth out of the water. Once you’ve mastered this, learn to breathe and sight. Every three or four strokes, as if you’re going to breathe to the left, do your last stroke then look up to sight, and then turn to the side and breathe, all within the stroke.”
“TRAIN WITH A SQUAD,” says Olly Freeman, triathlete, ranked sixth in the world in 2008. “It’s key for enjoyment and fitness. I admire people who swim on their own at public swimming times but find it so much easier in terms of concentration and enthusiasm to train with others.”
SWIM LONGER, recommends Beijing Olympics double gold medal winner Rebecca Adlington.
The main thing with Rebecca’s stroke is its length – when she wants to swim faster, she swims longer. We work on this by sets where she covers the same distance, in the same time, in less strokes, by stretching out. For example, ten 50m sprints in 29 seconds, starting at 41 strokes, then 40, then 39, always trying to stretch out stroke length relative to speed.
Kate Rew, February 2010
OSS member Brandon High reviews Chris Ayriss’ new book.
Hung Out To Dry: Swimming and British Culture is part history and part polemic. Its purpose is to show why open water swimming has become marginalised over the years.
The explicit message of the book is that an understanding of the reasons for open water swimming becoming an ‘eccentric’ activity should help to ensure that it becomes a more accepted recreation. All OSS members should have no quarrel with the polemical part of the book, which is passionately and convincingly argued. The emphasis of Ayriss’ argument is somewhat different from that of Wild Swim. He puts more stress on the water safety and lifesaving aspects of open water proficiency, and points out that most open water accidents and fatalities do not involve swimmers.
His argument that the acquisition of swimming skills in the pool, rather than in open water environments, has restricted rather than enhanced those skills is powerful. In his historical argument, he shows how lifesaving was a significant impetus to the development of swimming in the nineteenth century, particularly among women, who had not previously been encouraged to swim.
His other principal argument in favour of open water swimming is concerned with its social function. He claims that, when open water swimming was permitted, it was an important outlet for working class adolescent boys, and that making it a largely forbidden activity has encouraged delinquency and criminality among them.
Much of the historical argument of the book is concerned with the relationship of working class people to swimming, and in particular how changing trends in recreation and public health affected the popularity of the changing environments in which swimming was pursued.
For example, the increasing approval of sunlight by the medical profession from the early twentieth century onwards encouraged the popularity of sunbathing. This, in turn, encouraged the turn away from river and lake swimming to lidos, as lidos were specifically designed to provide a welcoming environment for sunbathing as well as for swimming. Thereafter, the popularity of package holidays to hotter climates made lidos less popular, as ordinary people became less and less tolerant of the British weather.
He shows, by a detailed study of the history of swimming provision in his home city of Leicester, that river and lake swimming was marginalised and made less respectable by the advent of lidos and indoor pools, and that its survival has always been precarious.
Ayriss’ interest in relating the history of swimming to broader social trends from 1850 onwards is the strongest part of the book. It complements well Christopher Love’s A social history of swimming 1800-1918: splashing in the Serpentine (2008), whose focus is more on the institutionalisation of swimming in schools and clubs and the growing interest of the state in the social utility of swimming.
However, Ayriss’ narrative is less sure when it comes to the earlier development of swimming. He over-emphasises the role of the medieval Church in forbidding swimming (not all clerics were opposed to it), and he claims erroneously that Everard Digby, the author of the first book-length treatise on swimming to be published in England, was one of the Gunpowder plotters.
He does not refer in his text to Nicholas Orme’s Early British Swimming, 55 BC – AD 1719, which is the principal source of information on both these points, and on much else. To be fair to the author, there is still much work to be done on the pre-19th century history of swimming.
It is a thought-provoking and stimulating book, written in an accessible, direct and conversational style. It should be of interest to every outdoor swimmer.
See Chris Ayriss’ short film about the book on facebook.
Brandon High, February 2010
Finnish artist Antti Laitinen caused a splash at the Royal Academy recently with his work 'It's my island'.
For the work, which consists of three simultaneous videos as well as photographs, Laitinen constructed his own island in the Baltic sea, dragging two hundred sandbags out in a rowing boat over a period of six weeks.
The 'Earth: art of a changing world' exhibition which Laitinen's work formed part of has now ended, but some of the stunning images from it can be viewed on the artist's own website, as well as the Royal Academy site.
Watery themes have played a significant role in Laitinen's previous work. For his 2008 video project Voyage, he attempted to row a man made paradise island along the Thames in central London.
He has said that the starting point for his work is 'the will to build oneself an own independent micro-nation inhabited by a single citizen.'
We may hope to see more of Laitinen in the future: the recent Royal Academy exhibition was his most high profile to date and he has previously exhibited his work at the Nettie Horn gallery in East London.
Jonathan Knott, February 2010
On Wednesday 10th February the BBC screened OSS patron Robert Macfarlane's documentary on 'The Wild Places of Essex' as part of their Natural World series.
As part of the documentary, Robert visits the old house of Roger Deakin - legendary wild swimmer and author of 'Waterlog' - who has inspired many to discover wilderness close to home.
The programme can be seen on BBC iplayer.
In a sign that the message of the OSS is now gaining serious traction, founder Kate Rew was named second place in Monocle magazine's list of 20 people worldwide who it feels deserve a bigger stage in 2010.
The quality monthly magazine, which covers global affairs and culture, was founded by Tyler Brûlé who also began Wallpaper magazine and writes the 'fast lane' column for the Financial Times.
Other people who feature on the diverse list range from politicians and campaigners to designers and entrepreneurs. The magazine's criteria were that all those included could 'offer something that could make the year ahead that bit better'.
Monocle described the OSS as having 'huge potential' and suggested that 2010 could be a key year for the society.
"The society has gone from strength to strength since it started in 2006, and to me this is a great sign that we're suceeding in our key mission - to spread the joy of wild swimming, and enable more people to do it by providing them with the inspiration, information and community they need. All we need now is some public funding and commercial sponsorship to ramp up the rate at which we are making things happen,' says Kate. 'We now have a core team of over 20 volunteers with a brilliant series of campaigns, events and initiatives for 2010 - so if you haven't already, watch this space and jump in and join us.'
Jonathan Knott, February 2010
Olympic silver medallist and open water swimmer David Davies is just one of the many swimmers waiting with baited breath for the 25 February, when the National Assembly for Wales committee announces the result of the public enquiry into access to inland water in Wales. He told the OSS he’s hoping what we’re hoping: that swimmers in Wales will soon enjoy the same right to roam as that in Scotland, with clear rights of access to the public to the rivers and lakes across Wales. Read more.
“Wales is a beautiful country, and has amazing places to go and swim. If this law passes so many people will get the opportunity to swim that I’ve had. I love swimming, I’d recommend anyone to go and do it. It’s a fantastic form of exercise, keeps you active and healthy better than so many other things.
“Swimming outdoors makes you feel that little bit better about yourself - you need a bit more bravery and courage to go outdoors, it can be a bit cold, a bit choppy, you don’t know what is at the bottom, and then when you’ve done it you get that extra feeling of success and adrenalin.
“I grew up by the sea, and competing outdoors in the 10k has really given an extra gear in my career. I think outdoor swimming should be encouraged and fully support the campaign for better inland access.”
Kate Rew, February 2010
2010 began with a political victory for outdoor swimming, as MPs tabled questions in the House of Commons to defend the historic freedom to swim year round in Hyde Park's Serpentine Lake.
Conservative MPs Desmond Swayne and Edward Leigh (the latter pictured left) enjoy regular early morning swims in the Serpentine, but found their access barred during the recent spell of icy weather.
Mr Swayne, who works for David Cameron as a Private Parliamentary Secretary, arrived at the lake to find his way blocked by a locked gate. He said:
'I had not been the previous week but half a dozen or so others said that it had been locked for several days and that the Park authorities would not give us access until the ice had cleared.'
The two men submitted questions to the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary demanding to know why the lake had been closed and how many times this had happened in the last thirty years. A key was eventually provided, allowing members of the Serpentine Swimming Club to get to the water come what may.
Mr Swayne said 'When I went along the following week I was told that a key had been issued towards the end of the preceding week. The minister's answer that the club had been issued with a key from the outset is incorrect.'
He understood that BBC coverage showing people walking on the ice had prompted the Royal Parks authorities to lock the gate as a precaution.
Support for OSS 'right to swim' campaign
Mr Swayne, who is the MP for New Forest West, also enjoys swimming in the sea and advocates the many benefits of swimming outdoors. He urged officials not to overreact in future, and expressed support for the work of the OSS, saying:
'As well as being great fun, swimming outdoors boosts mental and physical health and encourages environmental responsibility. I understand that authorities are concerned for public safety, but I think people should be trusted to use their common sense and take responsibility for themselves when minor risks are involved. I am sympathetic to the the efforts of the OSS to establish clearer outdoor swimming rights for the British public.'
Edward Leigh added: 'I have always been a great advocate of outdoor swimming, the benefits of which are numerous. It is one of my favourite pastimes and when I am in London I try to swim in the Serpentine every morning, rain, shine or snow.'
He thought that the case for closing the Serpentine was 'ridiculous', pointing out that 'people have been swimming there consistently for over 100 years'.
He is also 'furious' that he has been prevented from swimming in a lake in his Gainsborough constituency on health and safety grounds.
'It amazes me that people have the right to ban others from swimming in outdoor bathing areas, as I am sure that swimming in an outdoor area is not a criminal offence,' he said.
Mr Leigh wholeheartedly endorsed the work of the OSS, saying:
'I agree entirely with the manifesto of The Outdoor Swimming Society and I do hope that in time we shall succeed in making it much easier to swim freely in outdoor bathing locations.'
To see the parliamentary questions on outdoor swimming asked by Desmond Swayne MP and Edward Leigh MP, click here (scroll down about half way).
Jonathan Knott, January 2010
Jack Bright is a British extreme swimmer living in the Czech Republic. He is a documentary film maker and runs the Extreme Winter Swimming website. He shares with us the joy and attitude towards winter swimming in his adoptive country.
It’s been a busy time in winter swimming for me. In January, my friends got married in 1.8c water so we had a winter swimming wedding – maybe a world first. The wedding was featured on Czech TV news (around 4:30mins in). I filmed some of it for a documentary I am making, but that’s another story.
And now it’s late on Wednesday night and I must rise with the lark (if they are about at this time of year) as I must make my way to Lake Bled in Slovenia for the World Winter Swimming Championships. And if you asked me to tell you about winter swimming in the Czech Republic then the subject of the Bled event is a perfect staring point.
I have to say that the Czech Republic is a hotbed of winter swimming but I will be the only swimmer going to Bled from my club or indeed any other club in the CZ. You see winter swimming here is all substance over style. Twenty-five or 50 metres is a short distance and although the 400m race will be testing, here we wouldn’t describe it as an endurance race. A true endurance race here would be 750m or 1000m in still water below 2c. For many of my colleagues the idea of paying a large entrance fee to swim such a short distance just doesn’t add up, as beautiful as Bled undoubtedly is.
We have a 96 year-old man who still swims and in fact he can just about manage 50m in favourable conditions. He is the icon of winter swimming in this small land-locked country in central Europe, where swimming is just swimming, and health and safety – well it doesn’t exist in quite the same way as in the UK. Saying that, we have common sense and all our events are well organised.
Outdoor swimming is wilder in the UK but then wetsuits are common place, with triathlon now so popular. However, with a little ‘Otuzilci’ training you can swim 5km in water of around 15c with relative ease, so do you always need one?
And I hear you asking what do winter swimmers do when the European summer arrives? Do you head off to the South Pole? No, we keep on swimming – for longer periods, and in spring, after a tough winter season behind you, well, you will truly feel new born, which is fantastic in spring as the earth starts to look bright and fresh again.
Try winter swimming. My website www.extremewinterswimming.com has good information about how to begin hardening the body against cold water. The sensation is wonderful and after swimming try very sweet tea with honey and ginger, and remember the best way to transfer heat is body to body!
Happy swimming (in all seasons and weathers)!
Addendum: I am now back from Bled. It was a fantastic long weekend. The best British performers were from the South London Swimming Club as they had great strength in numbers and some excellent swimmers in all the events. The endurance race was a real spectacle for the spectators (which was the impression I got when exiting the water and on viewing some video footage). It was testing in the conditions but a longer distance next year would be amazing and a great addition to the already superb program.
Jack Bright, February 2010
Islands invoke something magical in people’s imaginations thanks to a literary legacy that spans many hundreds of years, taking in castaways and pirates, buried treasure and children who refuse to grow up. From Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe and The Count of Monte Cristo to Swallows and Amazons, Peter Pan and Lord of the Flies, islands are the stuff of escapist adventure and have kept generations of children turning pages by torchlight well after their bedtimes.
There’s a name for people obsessed with islands, although there are far worse afflictions, I’m sure. “Yes, my name is Matt and I’m an islomaniac!” Like you, I also have a healthy love for open water swimming and a while back I came up with the idea of combining these passions into a bit of a challenge. I decided that I wanted to swim to, from, around 20 islands around the world and write a book about my adventures.
There are approximately 180,497 islands in the world, which means there are an awful lot of islands to chose from and some fairly radical whittling to be done. Of course everyone’s list would be different, but for me it was important that each island had a story to tell. In the first of two articles for the Outdoor Swimming Society, I’m sharing with you five of my European selections, which will hopefully inspire others to share my passion for island swimming.
BURGH ISLAND, BIGBURY-ON-SEA, SOUTH DEVON, UK (One mile)
Brought to the OSS by local sculptor Kari Furre, Burgh Island has achieved fame in Kate Rew’s Wild Swim and more recently, in Robson Green’s programme Wild Swimming.
This charming tidal island, a stone’s skip away from the small Devonshire seaside village of Bigbury-on-Sea, oozes romance and mystery. Cut off by the tide twice a day, the island is dominated by the Art Deco Burgh Island Hotel. Dame Agatha Christie used the island as the inspirational setting for two of her most popular books, Evil Under The Sun and the oft renamed And Then There Were None.
According to local folklore, back in the 20s and 30s, floating bars were moored in summer at various points offshore for swimmers and there was an annual round-the-island swimming race, with cocktails served to the winner by waiters in black tie.
The swim is a one to one-and-a-half mile circumnavigation of the island, past imposing cliffs, rocky inlets and mysterious coves. Tides and choppy waters can make for a bold swim, although the lure of swimming past the spider crabs, around Cormorant Corner and through a channel somewhat imposingly named Death Valley add some old school adventure to the mission.
ESCAPE FROM MONTE CRISTO, FRANCE (3.1 miles)
Château d’If, the prison island off the coast of Marseille, became internationally famous in the 19th century when Alexandre Dumas used it as a setting for The Count of Monte Cristo, published to widespread acclaim in 1844. In the book, the Count (actually the commoner Edmond Dantès) and his mentor, Abbé Faria, were both imprisoned on If.
After fourteen years, Dantès makes a daring escape from the castle, becoming the first person ever to do so and survive. He returns to Marseille as a remade man with a fortune bequeathed to him by Faria and with vengeance very much on his mind.
In reality, no one is known to have escaped the island besides the hundreds of people who take part in the annual Défi Monte Cristo swim race. Created in 1999, three races exist – a 1km Junior Challenge and a 2km ‘taster’ on the Saturday, followed by the main 5km race on the Sunday. I am going to attempt this swim in June. www.defimonte-cristo.com
BROWNSEA ISLAND, POOLE HARBOUR, UK UK (4.5 miles)
Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands found in Poole Harbour in Dorset and is now owned by the National Trust. Thankfully the name Brownsea has nothing to do with the surrounding seawater quality, but comes from the Anglo Saxon for Brūnoc's Island.
The island has a fascinating history, which includes Robert Baden-Powell holding the first experimental Scout camp on the island back in 1907. Twenty-two boys from different social backgrounds took part in activities like camping, observation, woodcraft, chivaly, lifesaving and patriotism. Following the successful camping experience, Baden-Powell published Scouting For Boys in 1908, which led to the growth of the international Scouting movement.
There is an annual round the island swim of 4.5 miles run by RLSS Poole Lifeguards. www.rlss-poole.org.uk/brownsea.htm. I will be undertaking this swim on 25 July.
ROUND CHRISTIANSBORG SWIM, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
How many other European capitals can boast water surrounding their Houses of Parliament that is clean enough to swim in? Slotsholmen (The Castle Islet) is an island in the harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark, and part of Copenhagen Inner City. Sometimes referred to as 'the Island of Power', Slotsholmen houses many of the central institutions of the country.
The course is 2,000 metres long, meaning the 10,000 metre race involves five loops. There is both a competition for amateurs who swim in the afternoon and a FINA 10 km Marathon Swimming World Cup event with US$11,000 in prize money that takes place in the morning. The swim takes place this year on 28 August and water temperatures are 18-22°C.
The nature of the course makes it unusually good for spectators and that combined with the historical surroundings have gained it a reputation as one of the best open water swim competitions in Europe.
MAMMA MIA ISLAND: SKOPELOS, GREECE (2 miles)
The real stars of the hit film mama Mia are not Meryl Streep or Pearce Brosnon, but rather the timeless ABBA songs and the truly stunning location – a small Greek Island called Skopelos. The saxophone-shaped island in the Aegean Sea stood in for the fictional Greek Island of Kalokari in the hit film.
In the film, the cast can be seen dancing across white sand beaches before plunging into a sparkling sea and singing big numbers at epic locations such as the rock top monastery at Agios Ioannis.
Skopelos is the largest of several islands that make up the Sporades group, including Skiathos (which also served as a location in the film) to the West and Alonissos to the east. No organised swim exists, but a swim from Alonissos (with a support boat, obviously) is a manageable two miles, while Skiathos is only for the more serious swimmer at 12.5 miles.
I would love to hear suggestions for other island swims and I have created a facebook topic on the Outdoor Swimming Society facebook page.
Matt can also be contact by email at mattnewbury (at) aol.com. He would also love to hear from any editors who would be interested in publishing any of his adventures, as well as relevant hotels, airlines, sponsors or any benefactors who may be able to support the challenge and the book.
Matt Newbury, February 2010
OSS muse Kari Furre and fellow Devon-based swimmer-artist Amanda Bluglass have created a major new piece of public art which is set to adorn the outside of the newly redeveloped Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
They beat seventeen other artists to win the commission. The work takes the form of a body cast of a female swimmer.
Amanda says: “We absolutely love being in the water, and we want the work to reflect the beauty and strength of the swimmer’s body. Rebecca’s success has made swimming very current and we hope our sculpture will help keep that momentum going. We want people to visit the building and be really enthused and fired up by the power of the artwork on the outside.”
The sculpture is a massive 4.5m long and had to be put on a special sledge to be moved during the height of the country’s recent snowfall. Delicately hidden within the main piece is a ‘visual puzzle’: the body of a female swimmer making her way across the wall. The artists worked with a fellow swimmer to cast her body, capturing authentic musculature and movement. The sculpture is made of fibreglass resin. Once completed and mounted on the outside of the pool it will glitter with gold mica flecks, and at night it will be also be illuminated from within by blue LED lights.
A spokesman for the pool says they hope to have the sculpture in situ by 12 February. The pool (already affectionately dubbed ‘Becky’s Baths’ by swimmers proud of their local Olympian) will be officially opened by Rebecca Adlington on 18 February.
Anna Morell, February 2010
In August 2010, six 12 year-olds from Bristol will swim across 21 miles of the busiest shipping lane in the world, battling cold waters, rough seas, darkness and fluthers of jellyfish to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.
The children (who are currently actually 11 years old) are responsible for raising their own funds, and are running a raft of events in support of their endeavour, as well as to raise money for Surf Lifesaving GB and Children’s Hospices UK.
The next event, on 18 March at Clifton Lido in Bristol, is a dinner followed by a swim and sports-themed auction. Members of the Bristol English Channel Swim Team will be there to explain more about this inspiring local event. For details, go to: http://bestswim.co.uk
The website will feature first-person updates from the children from March.
Anna Morell, February 2010
Thank you for the brilliant response we had to the recent call for volunteers. We have eight new recruits who are going to start work on exciting watery projects over the coming months, details of which will be revealed in future newsletters. Some answered our adverts, and some have invented roles from themselves (eg family liaison), and we are looking forward to them joining the team during February.
We are still looking for people to fill key roles (see the jobs page for a full list of positions, if you would like to join the team)
- Swimming coaches – for outdoor swimming fitness courses nationwide
- Member admin – to answer questions people can’t answer on the website and OSS Facebook, and link members to the team where necessary
- Advisors - we are interested in hearing from anyone who has relevant experience (for example in large volunteer and membership organisations, public fundraising, running not-for-profits, or business expertise) who would like to become one of a panel of OSS Advisors
- Newsletter uploader – to upload and send out monthly news stories and newsletter
- Regional Swims coordinator – to be at the centre of the wheel of regional representatives
- Regional representatives – to stimulate more Social Swims in their geographical area
- Swimming Film Festival organizer – art and swimming, what better
- Policy writer – our growth means we now apparently need to have a constitution, health & safety policy and child protection policies in place. Can you write these for us?
The OSS was founded by Kate Rew in 2006. A key aim for 2010 is to introduce a clear structure of volunteers, advisors and a board of directors. Simultaneously, we will generate the small income that is required to staff the hub that enables the rest of the society to operate, and to run the website. This will bring it in line with other successful membership, sporting and campaigning organizations, ensure its sustainable, and enable us to continue expanding the range and variety of free wild swimming open to members, both by providing a community for swimmers and campaigning.
Laura Tomlinson, Volunteer Manager, February 2010
700 people took part in the World Winter Swimming Championships in Bled in Slovenia in January 2010. Patricia Baker, a member of the Outdoor Swimming Society and the South London Swimming Club spoke to Anna Morell about the swimmers at Tooting, and the club’s trip to this most extreme of winter sports events.
“We acclimatise by degrees, starting in July. I only manage to get to Tooting once a week, but it helps to acclimatise gradually – by December, Tooting Bec Lido was about one degree.
‘Many of us do it for the camaraderie – to meet, to chat and have coffee. There is a bench at Tooting dedicated to Bob Fitch whose wife Doreen helped keep the Lido open. Bob was 83 when he had a heart attack coming out of pool. He had swam there for over eight years, and that was how he wanted to go. We like to sit on his bench and think about him.
“We go to enjoy ourselves and keep out of hospital beds. One Club member is on crutches. It takes him thirty minutes to get from his car to swim but he does two widths daily. It’s good exercise for the elderly – less effort. We get quite cross when the pool has to close.
“The World Winter Swimming Championships are held every two years. The first one our Club attended was in Finland in 2006. In 2008, they came to Tooting Bec, and in 2010 it was Bled. The pool at Tooting was judged to be too warm (six degrees) for some people at the last Championships, but ironically this year it was colder in London than it was in Bled.
“This year, there will be 30 of us going from the South London Swimming Club, competing with people from around 25 nations. There tend to be be a lot of Americans, Canadians, Russians and Germans.
“We tend to go for the bravado rather than the competition, but there are prizes to be had for the keen. The Championships have a range of categories, but the majority of our Club swim the 25m head-up breaststroke in different age groups. The winners and runners-up of each heat go forward into the finals. I tend to get knocked out in the first round. As for the temperature – what’s one degree? You get on and do it. There is so much cameraderie, and an awful lot of people older than me do it.”
Tooting Bec was originally called Tooting Lake. Doreen Fitch was nominated for Unsung Hero in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for her work keeping it open.
Anna Morell, February 2010
2010 is the 200th anniversary of the swim to put open water swimming on the map: Byron's epic swim across the Hellespont. Join OSS member Dave Lowe (who won a place as a prize in the December Dip raffle) and other swimmers in a crossing to celebrate it. See international events for more details.
See the Youtube video.
It’s the simple question that swimmers who attended the OSS Plum Pudding Plunge may have been asked by friends, family and colleagues when they told them what their plans were for the weekend. Why?
Why did you get up on a December Saturday morning to jump into an unheated outdoor pool? Why didn’t you just stay in bed?
As they looked over the stainless steel-lined Lido – reflecting back the stark winter sunlight – and saw the temperature reading for the water was six degrees (two degrees warmer than a fridge) it was obviously a question that many people who attended were also asking themselves.
As someone correctly said: “It’s freezing just standing here”.
No one denied that the water was stingingly cold, one person even described the feeling induced as being “concerned that you might die”, but this very fact led to people emerging energised and revitalised.
‘Exhilarating’ was a frequently used word, and another swimmer, Suzanne, a Londoner, justified the swim on the grounds that its cathartic effect was ‘cheaper than psychotherapy’.
In the conditions, two widths were enough for most people, although not all. Lee, Fi and Tom from the OSS East Anglia group nonchalantly confirmed that they had each completed about 18 widths. As regular cold water swimmers, they were acclimatised to the temperature and assured me that after a few widths the initial shock subsided.
The social aspect of the event was also important. Another London swimmer said that it was good to be around “lots of other people that don’t make me feel too mad”, while Ray, from the East Dorset Open Water Swimming Squad, as well as enjoying the swim itself, saw the occasion as “a good excuse for a pint of Guinness”.
Ultimately, all who attended had done so simply, in the words of one swimmer: “for the sheer fun of it”. And given that, in the euphoric glow post swim, not one person could be found who regretted jumping in, those who wondered: ‘Why?’ would perhaps have been better off asking themselves: ‘Why not?’
There’s always next year…
Jonathan Knott, January 2010