Summer is upon us, and we’re dreaming of lazy hazy days swimming in lidos, rivers, lakes and seas. But before we leave Spring behind, we thought we’d look back to our favourite Instagram feeds of the season, including the winning photo from our #springswim competition.
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White sand, bright sun, perfectly clear water – does this sound like spring swimming to you? Possibly not unless, like @placesweswim, you live in Australia. Features the best lap pools, sea pools, the ocean, waterfalls, hot springs, lakes, rivers down under.
Watch out for their takeover of our Instagram feed this week!
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Owen is a relative newbie to Instagram, but his photos are a treat. Owen has been dipping with tadpoles in disused sheep dips off the TransPennine trail, picturing toads spawn through his goggles and capturing sunset to the sounds of curlews. This has been one of the most springlike feeds about; with swimming interspersed with pictures of shooting seeds bound for his allotment, and definitely one to watch this summer!
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Instagram is sometimes criticised for being fake… not so the simple and fresh honesty of Sioned Eleri Roberts, providing untouched photos of her swims around Snowdonia. This clarinet player, hillwalker, lover of the mountains and cold water shoots as she writes: with heart.
” There were people at the secret spot (I guess not so secret) that I was gonna go in today, so stomped through a bog and some brambles to get here instead.” Spoken like a true outdoor swimmer.
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Vivien Solari’s images of sea swims on the south coast have been mixed up with night swims and a trip to the Lake District. A feed worth a follow to watch spring has been ever so slowly creeping into her watery world.
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“So my logic this morning was, take the train south, further than you want to swim, and you will have to swim home! So I did. Almost 11km later, I got back. Learned from (some) mistakes last time….”
The newest member of the OSS team, Swimstaman’s feed is rich in inspiring text as well as image, from his swims around Zurich and beyond.
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With spring photos (of deer and hill climbs on his bike) interspersed with original illustrations and swims, Padhraic’s Norwegian feed is a visual, pared back and curated delight.
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With his lens focused mostly on the surface of the water where he swims, at Greystones Cove in Northern Ireland, Niall’s images still also manages to capture the seasons through subtle changes in the light, clarity and surface of the water. Unbeatable for a daily image that makes you long to get in.
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The sparkling water at Cullercoats beach was a winner in our judges’ eyes, and so Jane was crowned the winner of our #Springswim Instagram competition! Jane has only recently joined Instagram, and she says her success has spurred her on to get out and swim more, and photograph her adventures along the way.