A Contentment of Swimmers

Jess Rose

One of the oddities of the English language is the multitude of different names given to collections or groups, be they beasts, birds, people or things.

A skulk of foxes, a caravan of camels, a hover of kestrels or a smack of jellyfish… our language is rich in collective nouns for all sorts of life. But not, until now, a collective noun for swimmers.

But one week OSS Facebook members changed all that. Inspired by a wonderful image of swimmers we went on the hunt for the right collective noun.

Jess Rose

So which is the best? A bliss of swimmers. A contentment of swimmers. A shiver of swimmers?

The options are rich. Here are some of those proposed:

Slick, joy, eloquence, swathe, swale, beauty, glide, school, shiver. School, pod, shoal, bliss, contentment, shiver.

Take your pick.