On 19 June, OSS member Chris Cooper, along with his sister Jane, will be undertaking the somewhat hectic challenge of swimming in the English Channel, Lake Geneva and the Med all in the same day, commuting between them all by motorbike. Jane hasn't been on a motorbike before.

Chris says: "It's the swimming thing I am excited about! The bike is a means to do it. We'll be aiming to swim about 500 metres in each body of water." He is raising money to supply mosquito nets for children in Uganda. With every £2.50 donated he can buy one net.

Chris is encouraging OSS members to come along and join him (in the water, or for moral support) at any stage of the challenge. Interested parties can reach Chris on 01273 566 987 or sponsor him at http://www.justgiving.com/3swims.

Anna Morell, June 2010

OSS member Tony Barstow examines how swimming has always been associated with an appreciation of nature.

Bobbing around in the River Taw at the beginning of the month, I found myself surrounded by green pastures full of lambs.  Total serenity.

This is what swimming should be about.  I felt new and refreshed - and I am by no means the first to stumble upon the reinvigorating feeling of swimming in nature. For it is this type of swimming, rather than the chemically enhanced competitive kind, that has been lovingly remembered throughout history.

As far back as Ancient Greece, the pastoral novel Daphnis & Chloe gives us a clear idea of the pastoral idyll that swimming provided. The protagonists of the novel were a young couple in love that enjoyed bathing in rivers and springs as well as playing the pipes and singing with the nightingales on the island of Lesbos.

Much nearer to the modern day, we come across the near re-enactment of this romantic frolicking with the infamous midnight swim of Rupert Brooke and Virginia Woolf in 1911. The two took advantage of a warm summers' evening to enjoy a skinny dip at Lord Byron's pool in Grantchester. The whole story of what happened that evening will never be fully known, but the mystery and majesty of the image we have in our minds is probably not too distant from those young lovers of Lesbos.

Still in the dawnlit waters cool
His ghostly Lordship swims his pool,
And tries the strokes, essays the tricks,
Long learnt on Hellespont, or Styx.

It is these words of Rupert Brooke's that made this spot in Cambridgeshire known as a place Lord Byron frequented for swimming, and enhanced Byron's reputation as a regular outdoor swimmer. Ever since, the pursuit of swimming in nature has been an integral part of the romantic vision.

Nearly 100 years on from the escapades of Brooke and Woolf, 21st Century Britain seems a far less romantic place than that we hold in our minds.

Little wonder that more and more people want to re-connect with nature and the serenity of simple, idyllic pleasures such as bathing in the sea, rivers or lakes.

The growing popularity of organisations such as the Outdoor Swimming Society can only help in reviving these romantic sensibilities.

Tony Barstow, May 2010

Tristan Gooley's book, The Natural Navigator, is published by Virgin Books and was the OSS' Book of the Month for April. He tells us how reading ripples on a cup of tea can be the way in to reading wind, waves and swell.

A cup of tea can give us the energy to head out into the fresh air, but there is something else it can do for those of us who like to spend time in or on the water. It can give us an insight into a totally different kind of energy. Breath into your cuppa and you will see ripples form in the small hot pond in your hands. This is the start of the relationship between wind and water that gives the surface of all open water, from puddles to vast oceans, its character.

Ripples are the instant effect of wind on water and they die down as quickly as they form, as the surface tension of the water dampens their efforts. If a wind blows steadily across a large enough patch of water for a few hours then the ripples become waves and these will not be dampened so easily. Waves always travel in the same direction as the wind is blowing: if the wind changes then the waves change with it. Wave size is determined by the strength of the wind, the length of time it has been blowing and the distance it has blown over or the 'fetch'.

When strong winds blow for longer than a few hours, it gives the water sufficient energy that it then takes on a character of its own. This character and movement is known as swell, and it will march across open areas of water independent of the wind.

Waves and swell look subtly different. Swell marches in longer lines and appears less steep and more 'stretched' than waves - its wavelength does actually grow slowly as it grows older. The two also behave differently as swell will not normally break in open water, whereas waves will.

Swell continues to move under winds and waves that have long since changed direction, it can even head in the opposite direction as the wind and waves. Swell can cross an ocean of a thousand miles, something that is recognised and studied by surfers from Hawaii to Cornwall.

The fact that the water can store this wind energy explains why we often experience a rougher sea than the wind that was forecasted or felt before jumping in. It is also why we can often see big waves crashing onto a beach on a calm day.

This stored energy is also the reason that a change in direction when swimming outdoors can have such a dramatic effect on what we feel. If you have tuned into these effects then this change in sensation can actually be used to help determine direction. If the smoothest swimming is northwards and the roughest towards the south one minute, then it still will be half an hour later, even if your horizon has ceased to make sense. Inspiration for this technique of direction-finding can be found on the opposite side of the world.

The expert natural navigators of the Pacific have learned to read the water's movement in a way that no other humans can, they are able to tell which way a canoe is heading while lying down on the deck with their eyes shut, just from the feel of the swell under them. They can even tell the difference between the swell of the open ocean and swell that has reflected back off an invisible island dozens of miles away, using this to find their way home.

Swimming outdoors is sometimes about reaching another island, as those who have embarked on a Greek SwimTrek will attest, but most swims have more modest goals. There is a still a huge amount to be gained from the fun detective work of trying to decipher the wind's influence on the water.

In a lido you will probably find only ripples - if there are any waves you are likely swimming on your own, as the sensible take shelter from the gale! But if you are swimming at sea, whether on a beach or off the back of a yacht in the middle of the Atlantic (highly recommended, but not when singlehanded!), then your swimming experience will be heavily influenced by the relationship between wind and water. Like all outdoor experiences, it can be made much more interesting and fun by observing and trying to understand the clues that nature offers.

For more information about natural navigation and the courses run by Tristan, see www.naturalnavigator.com.

Tristan Gooley, May 2010

Swimmers will be in for an amazing sonic experience this summer as the phenomenal 'Wet Sounds' makes a return. 

Described by its creator Joel Cahen as an 'underwater sound art gallery', the project uses marine speakers to create sounds and music under the surface of the water.  Wet Sounds has been described as 'astonishingly immediate, inescapable', as well as 'like being in the womb'. 

Sound travels over 4 times faster in water and is perceived through direct vibrations of the nerve in the inner ear, creating a unique 'deep listening' experience.

Wet Sounds toured to widespread acclaim in the UK and Scandinavia last year, and was part of the recent AV festival in the North East. 

Wet sounds will be appearing at the OSS midsummer party before beginning its 2010 tour of the UK at London Fields lido on Saturday 10th July. 

Music already lined up for the London Fields event includes a live sound collage by Joel Cahen, a capella shanties from the The City Shanty Band, and Tibetan Bowls and percussion from Frank Perry.  More music is set to be confirmed to complement these diverse acts. 

Wet Sounds will move on to as yet unconfirmed locations in Oxford and Sheffield in July, before appearing at the outdoor pool at the Standon Calling festival on 8th July. 

After this, Wet Sounds will travel to the fabulous Zollverein outdoor pool in Essen, Germany.  The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, and has been described as 'the most beautiful coal mine in the world'.  The Wet Sounds performance will form part of the 2010 International Symposium on Electronic Art. 

The Wet Sounds schedule:

26 June: OSS Midsummer Party, Parliament Hill Lido
10 July: London Fields Lido
6th July: Oxford (venue TBC)
25th July: Sheffield (venue TBC)
8th July: Standon Calling Festival + Pool party
20-23rd Aug: Zollverein, Germany as part of ISEA

Jonathan Knott, May 2010

OSS director Kate Rew on how to avoid and cure swimmer's shoulder

I have not been able to swim for over a month now as a result of a 'swimmers shoulder', caused by excessive use of a computer mouse. There are a number of things wrong with this sentence. One: not swimming. Two, accruing a sports injury indoors at my desk.

Shoulder impingement (the accurate term for 'swimmers shoulder') is the most common form of adult shoulder pain. Since I've had it, I've met a few other OSS members with twinges they are imagining will just go away. As I've found out, this is unlikely - and the quicker you do something, the better your recovery.

So with good weather and regular open water swimming again in our sights, here are a few things that I have learnt from my physio, David Harris at West End Physio about making it better:

1. Do something as soon as you feel pain, don't just push through it. I continued with activities that hurt, thinking I had just torn a muscle. However, if pain is coming from the compression of the tendons that runs through the shoulder (there are four tendons which make up the 'rotator cuff') any activity that causes pain will cause inflammation that can become chronic. At this point, your shoulder will take a lot longer to be cured (perhaps necessitating a cortisone injection). So if you feel pain stop what you are doing, and consider visiting a physio.
2. If you can not stick your hand up when you know the answer and couldn't direct traffic, it could be shoulder impingement. Swimmers shoulder is caused by the shoulder blade pressing on either the Bursa (a small bag of fluid that sits directly above the joint) or the rotator cuff (the tendon that runs through the shoulder) when the shoulder is lifted. The easiest symptomatic test is to lift a straight arm out to the side of the body and up, and then in front of the body and up. If it hurts, it might be swimmers shoulder.
3. Good scapular stability (muscles that pull your shoulders down and back) and good rotator cuff strength help prevent swimmers shoulder. Stiffness and excessive flexibility can both cause problems. Some notes on this:

• Rounded shoulders, tight shoulders and bad posture can reduce the gap between your shoulder bones and cause shoulder impingement. Using a mouse leads the shoulder to round down and forward. If posture is poor, pilates can help.
• The worst strokes for causing impingement are breaststroke and butterfly.
• Using paddles for training increases the likelihood of developing swimmers shoulder is the use of paddles for training.
• Generally people who have been swimming for a long time have very flexible shoulders. This is great for your swimming, but does predispose you to having impingement problems.
  
  4.  One key exercise for helping to maintain good rotator cuff strength is the side lying shoulder external rotation exercise, done as follows:

• Lying on side hold light weight or dumbbell with elbow bent to 90 degrees
• Engage lower abdominals drawing belly button in towards spine
• Keep elbow tucked into side and lift dumbbell turning arm out
• Do not roll trunk back, perform slowly especially on the way down
• Repeat 12 x for 3 sets. Start with 1-2 Kg and build up from there.
  
  5.  A nice antidote to the shoulder- forward position is to roll up a towel, lie down with it below your upper spine, feel the space between your shoulder blades grow, and stay there for 5-10 minutes. Every day. You can also do this by the lido or the riverbank.

I spent 30 minutes with my hand on my mouse during the writing of this article. This has not made it better.  

Kate Rew & David Harris

April 2010

The first significant open water swim in history happened 200 years ago, on 3rd May 1810. Kate Rew reports on Byron's bicentennial, the biggest historical event in our lifetimes

 On 3rd May 1810, the club-footed Lord Byron - just 22, but two thirds of the way through his short life and already one of Britain's leading romantic poets - stood on the European shore of the Hellespont, put on his woollen one piece and set off to sidestroke his way to Asia.

In Greek myth Leander swam this 4.5 kilometre stretch of water nightly to visit his lover Hero, and Byron wanted to show such a feat was possible.

He had been a keen swimmer in Cambrdge, and was a romantic. At this point in history swimming was not popular: it was the activity of eccentrics, and had not yet been lauded for it's health benefits. Byron was not the man to make it fashionable - he was in exile in Europe at the time, to escape charges of sodomy back in the UK - but he did put the first open water swim on the map.  

'To me it's the most significant swim in the world,' says Simon Murie from Swimtrek, who is leading a commemorative swim in Turkey on the 3rd May, with 200 swimmers attempting the crossing. 'It's first significant long distance swim, the one that put swimming on the map. Crossings are always special, and with this one you're swimming from Asia to Europe. Then there's the mythical connection and Byron being the first person to do it.'

After the swim Byron said 'I plume myself on this achievement more than I could possibly do on any kind of glory, political, poetical, or rhetorical.'

Murie has spent years organizing a fitting celebration for the swim, a 3 days festival and crossing of the Hellespont led by the future Lord Byron on the 3rd May.

Closer to hand, at Byron's pool in Cambridge, OSS swimmers are getting together to commemorate the swim: 25 are signed up so far.

The OSS Byron social swim is free to OSS members. See Facebook. 

Kate Rew, 28 April 2010

Somerset is renowned for its beautiful countryside, but have you ever thought about swimming through it? Jonathan Knott shows us the sweet spots.

Many people automatically associate swimming with visits to cramped and humid local pools, but outdoors, away from the constraints of lane ropes and leisure centre staff, it becomes an altogether more tranquil and uplifting experience. 

Water has always been important to Somerset, and its many rivers provide an abundance of superb outdoor swimming spots.  Britain's rivers are now cleaner than they have been at any time in the past twenty years, and growing numbers of 'wild swimmers' are discovering that there really is no better way to experience nature at close hand than jumping straight into it. 

In Somerset, the slow-flowing river Brue is the perfect location a leisurely swim. The village of West Lydford (on the Brue, near to Glastonbury and Castle Cary) offers perhaps the only church swim in the country, and in summer, lilos and rubber rings are a common sight on the stretch of water near this village. Rob Fryer, who runs the Farleigh and District river swimming club (located on Somerset's North East border, and the only remaining river swimming club in the country) says that a popular swim begins by jumping off the bridge near the church (check the depth first) before swimming the 100 or so yards down to the weir.

A little further downstream, Flight's Hole, near Baltonsborough, is a popular swimming spot with residents of Glastonbury and Street. A number of footpaths converge here, making a dip in the river the ideal way to cool off after a country walk.

Roger Deakin, author of the classic wild swimming book Waterlog, wrote of his enjoyment swimming in the Somerset levels. After stumbling across the perfect swimming hole near Ilford bridge on the river Isle, he promptly plunged in for a dip, arguing that "if the river was good enough for otters, it was good enough for me."

Swimming is also popular in the River Frome, near Farleigh Hungerford (see photo), and in hot weather locals gather for a cooling swim at Claverton Weir on the River Avon, near Bath.

But the locations mentioned here by no means offer an exhaustive account of good places to swim in Somerset. The best spots may be those that you find yourself. Just remember never to jump into water if you don't know what's under the surface, to respect other water users (such as those fishing and on boats), and that land owners have the right to ban swimming should they decide to. And always locate an easy exit point before you get in. 

With such an array of swims on offer, why not take the plunge this summer and see the county in an entirely different light? Instead of chlorine, you'll feel the softness of fresh water, and the only whistle you'll hear will be from birds in the trees above you.

Jonathan Knott, May 2010

Taking on an 3 mile swim is a challenge for anyone - but for London swimmer Stephen Lightbown it's something on an entirely different scale. 

Paralysed in both legs after a sledging injury aged 16, Stephen will in his own words be 'learning to swim again' as he trains for a swim in Llyn Gwynant, Snowdonia for the spinal injuries charity Aspire on 13th August. 

Stephen has regularly taken part in land races, such as the recent Manchester Shine half marathon, but initially experienced some frustration with his swimming training. 

Despite putting in plenty of pool time, the speed in which he was covering distances meant that he would not be able to complete the required distance in a realistic time. 

However, in sessions at the Aspire pool in Stanmore has been learning to swim putting his head underwater, allowing him to swim front crawl and cover distances in much faster times.  Since overcoming the physical and psychological barriers and mastering the new technique, he has made rapid progress. 

To prepare for the Aspire swim, Stephen hopes to enter the Great London Swim on 3rd July (1 mile), and afterwards take on further distances - with a channel relay swim his ultimate ambition.

He says that swimming allows him a great sense of freedom to be out of his wheelchair.  Stephen thanks OSS members for the advice and support they have provided through discussions on Facebook. 

Read more about Stephen's training for the swim on his blog and Twitter.  He aims to raise £1,000 for Aspire, which supports the 40,000 people in the UK living with a spinal injury.  You can make a donation on Stephen's JustGiving page. 

Jonathan Knott, May 2010

Mike Alexander has been a dedicated member of OSS since 2006, during which time he has picked up tips from Lewis Pugh and Cassie Patten. Last December he left his teaching job in London to lead treks across Costa Rica, during which time he has been finding great swim spots en route.  Here he gives his secrets to finding good swim spots abroad.

My passion for outdoor swimming was born back in 2001 when I was working as a web developer in San Francisco. I joined the Dolphin Swimming and Rowing Club in San Francisco Bay, just opposite Alcatraz, and swam every other day. I loved the coolness of the water, the space to play, and I often thought of Clint Eastwood's character in Escape From Alcatraz. What a great way to escape prison.

When you think of the Pacific Ocean and California you may be tempted to imagine warm water. Well you'd be wrong - the water in the Bay averaged at 12 degrees Celsius during my time there. My brother experienced this when he was over on a visit. Shortly after venturing into the Bay he turned back to the changing rooms pretty sharpish, shocked by the cold. As he was making his way back he saw an "old guy" jump in, casual as you like, and perform a smooth crawl. My brother, inspired by the "old guy", promptly launched himself back in and ended up staying in the water longer than me. This very fact - that we can be inspired and inspire by just jumping in - has stuck with me ever since. When I discovered the OSS years later I was made up.

Mike's advice for finding great swimming spots:

1. THINK MOUNTAINS

Mountains are the best arena for rivers. Cool, fresh, deep, shallow, fast, slow, but always invigorating. Getting involved with mountain rivers always soothes my soul and energises my mind and body. The colder the better. Rivers often lead to lakes and, although not as fun, allow you to really stretch out and actually swim.

2.  FINDING A SPOT

The best places I have swum abroad generally aren't places where people go swimming so relying on locals generally isn't an option. You are best getting the local map, heading into the hills and seeing what you can find. If you are experienced with map reading and mountain walking this is relatively easy to do. If not you could combine your search for swim fun with another water-based activity: kayaking, canyoning, trekking, gorge walking. All of these pursuits are catered for more than outdoor swimming is, at home and abroad. By partaking in these activities you'll find some great spots that you can enjoy at the time or come back to. Obviously all of these pursuits may present some danger, but always remember they are all a great deal safer than driving on the motorway.

3.  TAKE THE PLUNGE

So you've found somewhere that looks great for a quick dip or a long soak...but no-one else is swimming. Is it safe?  Am I mad? You can answer these questions in your own time but never be put off by the fact that no-one else is doing what you want to do. These questions ran through my mind when, en route to Costa Rica, I called in on a friend in Arizona. We went hiking around Mount Lemon and discovered a pristine lake at 7000 feet. It was frozen over at one end, the end in the shade of the fir trees, there was still snow interspersed between their leaves. No one was swimming. A father and son were fishing. I stripped off and jumped in. Bliss, cold and brief bliss, but bliss all the same. The fishing duo were shocked but loved the spectacle and asked many questions about wild swimming. I hope to have inspired them a little.

4.  PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

If you are going to go into the mountains plan a route that features rivers and lakes. Consider the weather, clothing, food, drink, timing and your own personal mountain experience. If you are not comfortable with planning routes or any of these factors find a friend who is or hire a local mountain leader. You may have a friend who is an experienced mountain walker but isn't sure about wild swimming - if so, just combine the two activities - and have them ready with a flask and fleece for when you get out. You never know, you may inspire them!

5.  DON'T FORGET THE SEA, TOO!

Most of my favourite plunges have been in the mountains, but the sea holds something special for swimmers too. For me I need to have a target to aim for - an island or an anchored boat. Personally, I find it quite difficult to swim in a straight line in the sea, so having a target to aim for helps. The first island I swam to was just off Majorca 15 years ago.  I then didn´t swim to another island until joining SwimTrek on their Inner Hebrides tour just two years ago. Inspired by this, I swam from Achiltubie to one of the Summer Isles in North West Scotland last year and I am currently planning a 6km interisland swim off the west coast of Ireland.

Although I have had some great solo wild swims, I'd generally advise company both from an enjoyment and a safety point of view. In the words of Christopher McCandles in the Jon Krakauer book Into The Wild: "Happiness is only real when shared".

In July, OSS team members will be taking on the English Channel swim challenge. OSS stalwart Sarah Tunnicliffe gives us an insight into training.

On 10 July 2010, two OSS team members - Tom Reed and Sarah Tunnicliffe - will be forming part of a relay team to swim the English Channel in the Mel Watkins Challenge. 

The Mel Watkins Challenge is an annual relay swim race whereby teams attempt to complete the English Channel Crossing. This year, all funds raised from the challenge will go to Kent Air Ambulance Trust, and Tom and Sarah are trying to raise £6,000.

The relay team are currently training hard both in the pool and in open water without wetsuits at the moment to prepare for the challenge. Tom ditched his wetsuit ages ago with Sarah only shedding the neoprene at the start of April and loving the sunny weather we've currently been having.

Gradually they've built up the outdoor distances to acclimatise to the colder temperatures swimming mainly in rivers, but from very early May they'll be in the sea more.

You can follow the progress of Tom and Sarah's relay team via their facebook group page where no complaints of sore shoulders are allowed!

If you'd like to sponsor Tom and Sarah on their challenge, they have a Just Giving link. All proceeds raised will be going directly to the Kent Air Ambulance Trust - Saving Time - Saving Lives.

The OSS team wish Tom and Sarah the best of luck on their training and challenge, we'll be closely following how they get on.

Sarah Tunnicliffe, May 2010

Pool campaigner Sally Wainman will be standing to become the MP for Ipswich in the forthcoming general election on the single issue of saving Broomhill lido.

Sally has stood previously in six elections (both local and general) with the aim of keeping the pool's plight in the public view and encouraging action to save the grade II listed lido.

Sally and the Broomhill Pool Trust have continuously campaigned for the pool's reopening since its closure in 2002.

The next few months will be critical, as Ipswich Borough Council considers expressions of interest from parties looking to re-develop the site of the pool.

Among these is a high profile leisure trust with a first class track record in restoring pools - but the Council are unable to confirm whether the other developers intend to keep the site as a swimming pool or not.

An additional frustration for campaigners is the Council's recent withdrawal of a pledge of £1m towards the cost of restoring the pool.

The money was initially promised by councillors elected in 2004, but at the end of last year it was removed from the budget, just as expressions of interest were being received.

The £1m sum also proved controversial in 2008 when the Trust's application for a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund was rejected. The HLF found that the money was ‘unsecured' and that the council needed to show ‘greater commitment'.

The Council queried the building's listed status in 2001, and in 2008 were only stopped at the last minute from filling in the pool.

A representative for Ipswich Council said: '"The Council maintains its position of working with the Broomhill Pool Trust. We have received a number of expressions of interest over the pool's future and these will be properly evaluated in the coming months."

Surveys conducted by the Broomhill Pool Trust and by the Council itself have shown that restoration would be popular with Ipswich residents. The Trust estimates the cost of keeping the facility closed at £50k per year.

Sally said: "Ipswich Borough Council cannot expect an outside operator to bear the financial brunt of the council's decision to leave the pool needlessly derelict and neglected since the end of 2002."

The OSS fully supports Sally in her campaign and will be following events closely.

Jonathan Knott, April 2010

Those unable to make Swimtrek's Hellespont swim to mark the 200th anniversary of Lord Byron crossing the strait can join the OSS for a social swim a little closer to home on the same date. 

Setting out from Byron's pool in Cambridge (said to have been a favoured swimming spot for the poet), swimmers will follow the river Cam through Grantchester meadows towards Newnham Riverbank Club for a picnic. 

Swimmers will meet at the Riverbank Club at 10:30, and drive to Byron's Pool before swimming back down.

Find out more on Facebook.

This is not an organised swim and swimmers participate at their own risk.

Buying a wetsuit for outdoor swimming is a confusing business.  There can seem to be an endless array of different varieties and makes, and without the right guidance it can be difficult to know where to start.  It's certainly a topic that has cropped up regularly in discussions on our Facebook group. 

Luckily, OSS swimmers Jo Hills and Adam Smith have now put together a comprehensive guide to buying a wetsuit.  For the answers to all your questions, it's number four in our outdoor swimming tips section here. 

June 2010: The Wavewatchers Companion by Gavin Pretor-Pinney

Just out today (7th June), so no I haven't read it, but it is by Gavin P-P, who wrote the cloud-spotting guide and if that is anything to go by, dive in. 

May 2010:   Seven-Tenths: The Sea and its Thresholds by James Hamilton-Paterson. 

April 2010: The Natural Navigator by Tristan Gooley.

March 2010: Sea Room by Adam Nicolson

Others that you should already have, or have been reviewed on the website before:

Wild Swim by Kate Rew

Waterlog by Roger Deakin

Haunts of the Black Masseur by Charles Sprawson

Caught by the River a collection of words of water

I hope to build up here, over time, a collection of books that cover many aspects of wild swimming. Swimming, nature, wilderness, outward bound-ness(!), poetry, dreaming, natural history, and with luck some water-based fiction. Please send me any suggestions of any interesting cultural books that you would like to see here on info @ outdoorswimmingsociety.com and mark them FAO me. Thanks,

Michael Worthington

OSS member Anthony Barstow is returning to outdoor swimming for the first time since his teens. Here he shares how it's helping him beat depression the natural way.

As the prescription printed off I wondered how I had let this happen again. I just did not want to go back onto the 'happy pills', especially now I'm a father.

I had taken Fluoxetine before and was adamant that I did not want to take it again. It gave me headaches and a constant feeling of dehydration. In many respects I thought it made me feel worse.

Months of mental agony and within a ten minute appointment my doctor had pin-pointed exactly what medication to prescribe. But that saddened me more than it amazed me. As I drove home I realised there had not been any question of alternative treatment. A previous doctor had once mentioned increasing the amount of exercise I did, but this was very much secondary to taking pills.

It wasn't until I got an email a couple of weeks later saying entry to the Great North Swim was open that I thought sod it, I'll do it. As soon as I reacquainted myself with the water, I knew I was doing the right thing. Being immersed is such a freeing experience. Even in the local pool I am reminded of swimming off the beaches of the Jurassic Coast as a child. My local triathlon club has welcomed me to their training sessions and will provide me with great support when I am ready to take my swimming outside again.

So why had this not been mentioned to me as an alternative to medication? Some quick googling confirmed that it's not just me who is feeling the benefits.

In 2005 the Mental Health Foundation published a report, Up and Running, which explains how exercise can be an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. A full four years later, in 2009, they published a follow-on report highlighting that, despite their earlier findings, exercise is often still not a GP's first choice when prescribing for depression. A lack of referral outlets is quoted as a reason but, really, anyone can take the initiative to head out for some exercise.

Why swimming though? More precisely, why outdoor swimming? The answer to the first question is relatively straightforward; aerobic exercise is proven to alleviate symptoms of depression by releasing endorphins which improve your mood. Swimming is also very low impact, so you are unlikely to pick up injuries which might prevent you from continuing with it.

But it seems that outdoor swimming can do even more for the healing process than indoor swimming can. On my internet travels I stumbled upon a couple of interesting theories as to why. Nikolai Shevchuk, a researcher from America, undertook a study of cold showers as a possible treatment for depression. The outcome, in a nutshell, was that the change in body temperature stimulates cold receptors in the skin which releases those feel-good endorphins. Others put it down to the calming and restorative influence of nature.   

So the evidence is there if this one man's experience isn't enough for you. What are you waiting for? If you're feeling the strain of modern life and swimming is, for the moment, the last thing you feel like doing, it's probably the very tonic you need.

Anthony Barstow, April 2010

The OSS, a not-for-profit, has been recruiting volunteers heavily since Autumn 2009 so we can do more for our members in 2010 - please do look at our expanded team. Special mention goes to Laura Tomlinson, our Volunteer Manager, who has welcomed so many faces into exciting roles over the last three months - please get in touch with her if there's any thing you're able to do for other members of the society.

For the next few months Laura is focusing on helping members into positions as Regional Representatives all over the country. If you can operate as a social focal point a few times a year for swims in your area, please get in touch with her or Sarah Tunnicliffe. We're also looking for people to hold 'Big Jumps', river swimming and picnics, all over the country on July 11th.

Key volunteer staff still being recruited: a creative agency or individual to take the position of OSS design lead for 2010 (everything from hats to merchandise and posters), events organisers to organise member swims where safety is required, experienced writers, a magazine editor and a sponsorship broker.

As part of its ongoing growth the OSS is delighted to announce a new board of directors and panel of advisors. On the advisory panel we have Chris Hines (campaigning genius and man behind pressure group Surfers Against Sewage), Nathan Wilmott (our legal advisor) and Simeon Singer (a finance director and entrepreneur). On the board we have Kate Rew, Michael Worthingon and Chris Askew, who is also Director of Fundraising for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Both the team and the board now meet quarterly, with the team handling all the grassroots growth, direction and events of the OSS, and the board taking strategic decisions to ensure we fulfil our mission to get more people enjoying the freedom and adventure of swimming outside. Kate Rew is now employed by the OSS on a part time basis.

We're in the process of developing a member questionnaire so you can tell us what you like about the OSS, and what you want more of. We might not be able to deliver it straightaway, but we can work towards it.

Kate Rew, April 2010

As the days lengthen and sunshine makes a welcome - if hesitant - return, many outdoor swimmers will (if they have not been swimming there throughout the winter anyway) be finding themselves inexorably drawn to their local lido.  And the good news is that appreciation of the value of lido life is also increasing among the public.

Britain's lidos once seemed in terminal decline, but are flourishing again thanks to a renewed appreciation of the unique benefits they can bring to individuals and communities. The term "lido" (borrowed from the famous sand island in Venice) escapes precise definition but signifies more than just a pool without a roof: lidos are conceived on a more epic scale and normally incorporate a strong sense of theatre. They typically include a sunbathing area and a cafe, and many are striking examples of art deco architecture. They are places to swim, but also to sunbathe, chat, read, think or simply exist.

The 30s were their boom decade, when an extraordinary craze for lidos swept the nation. New paid-holiday legislation allowed the public unprecedented freedom, while the state was keen to boost health and stimulate employment with new building projects. As Janet Smith records in her history of lidos, Liquid Assets, the London county council led the way, with chairman Herbert Morrison vowing to turn London into a "city of lidos". As well as cities, seaside resorts such as Brighton, Plymouth and Blackpool built lidos filled with sea water as safe and sociable bathing locations to encourage tourism. Their popularity continued for years, but the increasing affordability of foreign holidays and cuts to the budgets of local authorities caused many lidos to be closed in the 70s and 80s. Indoor leisure centres were the new trend, and the lido seemed on its way out. Many were demolished completely, others were allowed to become derelict.

Thankfully, since the 90s, a phenomenal rearguard action has kicked in to protect and breathe new life into these treasured institutions. The writer Ken Worpole recalls that a "perfect storm" of public opinion and funding opportunities came to the aid of the lido. The Twentieth Century Society's report Farewell my Lido (1991) was one of the first publications to draw attention to their fate, and writers such as Julie Burchill and Roger Deakin also wrote of their love of lidos. At the same time, lottery money was made available to restore lidos such as the Jubilee Pool (Penzance), Tinside (Plymouth), Brockwell Park (London) and Sandford Parks (Cheltenham).

Financial issues remain a concern for any local authority considering reopening a lido, but a number of viable options are available. Working in partnership with not-for-profit management companies or charitable trusts is one solution that has allowed many formerly closed lidos to thrive again. One such example is London Fields lido, situated in the heart of Hackney, which reopened in 2006 and is managed by the social enterprise GLL. But were it not for the tenacity and spirit of the local community, it might not exist at all.

A 1989 report shortly after the pool's closure recommended it should be "demolished and put back to grass". Over the next 16 years the London Fields Users Group battled to save the pool through a myriad of feasibility studies and false dawns, negotiating overgrown weeds, raves and squatters and in one instance standing in front of a bulldozer to halt the pool's imminent demolition. Similar successes have been replicated across the country, from the Portishead open air pool (north Somerset), to Hilsea lido (Portsmouth) and the Droitwich Spa lido (Worcestershire). On Tuesday, Uxbridge lido in outer London was also reopened by Boris Johnson as part of the new multimillion pound Hillingdon leisure complex.

These happy endings will spur on supporters of Saltdean lido in Brighton as they fight for its future. The lido's owner recently announced plans to turn the building into flats, but within days a campaign had been organised, including a website and a Facebook group that now numbers over 5,000. The initial signs have been encouraging, with English Heritage confirming that the lido's grade II listed status applies to much more of the building than the developers appear to have assumed.

As concerns over carbon footprints and economic difficulties prompt more people to stay in the country over the summer, Britain's lido renaissance is welcome - and not just because lidos provide the uplifting combination of space, water and sunlight. They are also one of the few public spaces where a genuine sense of community can still be found.

It may not be coincidental that the impetus for restoring them has mostly come from the grassroots. With traditional democratic engagement on the wane and a lazy sense of entitlement sometimes seeming to prevail among the public, it is encouraging to see people working together to create and protect a shared local resource. The methods used by campaigners, capitalising on digital technology to prevent authorities riding roughshod over the wishes of their residents, are also a blueprint for how politics can be done in the 21st century. "Empowerment" is currently a fashionable political buzzword: this is empowerment in action.

Opening the Morecambe Super Swimming Stadium in 1936, Bank of England governor Sir Josiah Stamp famously said "when we get down to swimming, we get down to democracy". It is a statement that is true in more ways than one.

For comprehensive information on open and potentially reopenable lidos in the UK, visit Oliver Merrington's website lidos.org.uk.

For memories of lidos past, see Anne Jessel's Lost Lidos.

This article was originally published on the Guardian's comment is free website. 

Jonathan Knott, April 2010

The OSS is now on twitter under the username OSS_team.

Follow us for up to the minute outdoor swimming news, information on social swims in your area, and other outdoor swimming/water related tweets!

Twitter is a rapidly growing online social network in which users share thoughts and information with each other in 'tweets' of less than 140 characters.

OSS volunteer Jools Abrams-Humphries writes a personal account of the role outdoor swimming has played in her life

The lure of open water has beckoned from an early age. Nose pressed against the window of my uncle's Ford Anglia on a rare trip to Wales, the smell of heated vinyl on a hot day permeating the air, I'd wrenched the rear door open before the car was parked and was off across the sand as fast as my chubby three year old legs would carry me. Straight into the surf, white knee socks and red buckled sandals sea soaked and blurring beneath the waves. Ankle deep was as far as I got for the next 10 years. No one in the rest of my family could swim, and I was constrained to wave hopping, stranded on the shore, looking longingly out at the great expanse of water. Living land bound deep in the Midlands didn't help. Perhaps it was in the genes - family folklore told tales of how my Grandfather swum the Mersey. Years later as a student in Liverpool I spent hours leaning over the railings at Pier Head, watching the metal grey river spin and weave its ebbs and flows, hiding all those stories.

There were plunges into kinder waters in my teens, midnight swims in the Med (unintended and unwise after a bottle of the local vino) splashes around the British coast with friends, but this wasn't enough - I thought there could be more. In the past four years, there has been. As part of a women's outdoor pursuit group, She Who Dares, I've fallen into open water from kayaks, canoes, and sailing dinghies; sculling the surface, lingering, before climbing back into the boat. I've swum the River Stort on a Bumble - a cross between a bath and a ramble - jumping from bridges and kicking down the waterways in an aquatic parallel world.

Organised trips to South Wales have given the group sea swimming opportunities in coasteering. Stumbling down a flower strewn coastal path and walking straight into the water, clad in thick wetsuits like extras from a ‘70's TV episode of Dr.Who. Swimming along the coast, briefly numbed by the cold, blue skies above. Floating like flotsam and jetsam on the tide, we bobbed around the coast, tiny specks swept past towering cliffs, small and insignificant in the seascape. In a tiny bay between two rocky outcrops we bobbed like champagne corks in a bucket, laughing and tangling into each other as socks in a giant washing machine. Climbing out clutching at the cliff face as tightly as the barnacles locked there, we swam round into a secret cave, accessible only from the water. This was a place where seals came to give birth, an underwater maternity ward. Another year we took those giant leaps into the blue lagoon near Aberiddy, sheltered from the wild sea beyond, and floated on the calm green water below.

Inspired by the group and the Wild Swim book, I'm now breaking out into new waters and ready to attempt my first open water distance swim as part of the Great East Swim in June. My wild swimming now has purpose, if not poise.

Who says money and job satisfaction have to be related. Seen the massive team page? Ever wondered what we're all up to? Here's the news.

March is a phenomenally busy month - this is the time of year we set up events, parties and web improvements that will run for the summer - so we couldn't so much narrow it down to a volunteer of the month as about four. But out of acres of hard work a special thank you and pair of goggles goes to Jonathan Knott (website content editor), Louise Crathorne (fitness course manager), Laura Tomlinson (volunteer manager) and Adam Smith (map editor). Well done everybody.

• Ric Cole, Press Officer, has compiled an archive of media stories
• Jonathan Knott, Website Content Editor, has written and uploaded countless news stories and media feeds to keep you up to date with swimming news, and is introducing Twitter
• Rebecca Thompson, Web Redevelopment, has worked with the rest of the team to write a brief for the new OSS site, and put work out to tender to ten companies
• Michael Worthington, Director and Guerilla Swimmer, is organising a river race in the Thames and a long Thames swim to go with his book 'I heart the Thames,' a guide to swimming its length in 75 sections (buy it now from the OSS shop)
• Jo Daly, Event Manager, has been managing the OSS Wild Swim: Derwent Island LINK which is filling fast - book your tickets now
• Laura Tomlinson, Volunteer Manager, and Sarah Tunnicliffe, Regional Rep, are recruiting regional reps all over the country
• Jon Blyth, Photo Archive, has started work on a living online library of this special time in history when wild swimming was reborn and started taking new directions
• Scott Owens, Marketing, has written a questionnaire and is about to start market research so we can get more ideas from you about what you want
• Sophie Milton, Marketing, has rung all the mass swims in the country to get them involved in the OSS and create a 2010 list
• Jo Hills, swimmer, has written a wetsuit Q&A LINK for all newcomers because she needed one herself
• Rachel Smith, Event Volunteer Manager, has started recruiting 2event volunteers for the Keswick Mountain Festival weekend of OSS wild swimming, and supported Kate at the Big Dunk
• Kate Rew, Director, has had her fingers in all the pies all month, working on content, web redevelopment, seeking public funding and sponsorship for the Big Jump and web, and getting our Lakes 10k swim (Sept 11th) ready to launch with Breakthrough Breast Cancer
• Paul Roberts, Campaign Manager, has started organising the Big Jump LINK which is soon to launch (get the date in your diaries: July 11th)
• Louise Crathorne, Fitness Course Manager, has organised OSS fitness courses in Ipswich, London (Serpentine, London Fields, Parliament Hill, Brockwell), Cambridge and Ullswater and handled OSS wild swim queries
• Adam Smith, Map Editor, has been in the engine room, sorting out a myriad technical issues, an open water training lake list, and 1000 volunteer queries. We are not sure how much fun he's had, but someone had to do it so a big thank you Adam
• Irene Nuttney, Merchandise, has come back from Australia which means hoodie and hat delivery has returned to her normal high standards (thank you Irene)
• Lee Wicks, e-marketing, has joined the team and got off to a sprint start analysing our website statistics and looking at strategic links to fulfil the OSS ambition of tripling our reach online this year
• Oli Pitt, OSS parties, has masterminded a midsummer's night dip LINK to delight us all

To complete their tasks the team is particularly looking for help with:

• Marketing - someone to organise and see through marketing for OSS fitness courses and events
• Design and copy writing - we are going to need flyers for events this summer, new hats for members and more merchandise
• Writers and editors - as the web overhaul moves on Jonathan and Kate need more people to provide copy, including a new newsletter editor and a magazine editor for a new member-only publication
• Event volunteers - for 22nd and 23rd May, when we are holding OSS swim clinics and the OSS Wild Swim in the Lake District
• Leeds based swimmer - to keep Scott Owens company

What they have done for themselves: gone swimming. Kate had a particularly nice time in the Serpentine (0.5 degrees), Michael saw 14 blue whales in Sri Lanka and Sarah remains indefatigable in her social swim planning (North Yorkshire and River Great Ouse, Cambridgeshire). Swim on, friends and members...

March 2010

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.