It is with a tiny bit of sadness that today I wish my podcast a fond farewell. Three years and 80 episodes is something I am totally proud of. When I started, there wasn’t another wild swimming podcast that I could find, so i decided to fill the gap. Today there are many many to choose from and I hope you will switch your allegiances across to them and give them your support. I have to say the biggest thank you to every single person who has spoken to me. It isn’t an easy thing to do and many of us don’t really believe we have anything interesting to say. And yet, each episode have r ..read more

This is the penultimate episode of the Swim Wild Podcast and I’m delighted that my guest could be Richelle Flanagan, talking about her Dopamine Dunkers challenge running throughout May 2021. Richelle has been diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease and since her diagnosis has been to the Parkinson’s World Congress and become an ambassador, raising awareness of the condition and connecting with other people around the world. The pandemic has been hard for everyone in so many ways, not least financially difficult. But if you are lucky to have not lost your income, and if you have a few Eu ..read more

This week’s podcast guest is Kelly from Seattle. Find out more about swimming in Puget Sound, where it doesn’t usually get warmer than 11 degrees C, and yet they still have a jellyfish issue ..read more

The guest this week on Swim Wild podcast is Lenka Janiurek, author of fabulous new book ‘Watermarks; life, death and swimming.’   If you are the kind of wild swimmer who likes to immerse in all sorts of culture connected with swimming, this is a book to add to your ‘to read’ pile.   It sits alongside books such as The Outrun, I Am An Island and Wintering, as an exploration of being alongside and immersed in water as an essential mechanism for making sense of, coping with and thriving in life.   This episode is dedicated to the memory of all women/womxn who have suffered at the h ..read more

My guest this week is photographer Justine Desmond. If you read Outdoor Swimmer magazine, you will be familiar with her work as one of her photographs was on the front cover of the February 2021 edition and some images from her project entitled ‘The Swimmers’ are featured in the magazine. In this episode, Justine talks about the importance of a photo shoot being a genuine collaboration with the person she is photographing. She explains how important it was to put out the right invitation to encourage swimmers to come forward to take part feeling happy and comfortable with the process, both of ..read more

This week’s guest is Omie Dale. Omie is a young woman who is very busy. She is part of the team at the Black Swimming Association, she is about to become co-host of a local Mental Health Swim, she is a qualified swim coach and lifeguard, and is about to undertake her Outdoor Swim Coach certificate. She’s also passionate about outdoor swimming. Omie shares her experiences of growing up in a household where swimming was a valued skill and was non-negotiable in terms of herself and her brothers learning to swim. But she also shares her experiences as a swim coach hearing colleagues share the fal ..read more

Welcome to the latest edition of Swim Wild podcast. This week’s guest is Gill, known on social media as Stoma Chameleon. The episode itself is a complete shot of pure joy. If your levels are getting low, this will definitely top them up. Which some people might find surprising, because Gill is talking about her experience of birth trauma that led to her having a permanent stoma. You could be forgiven for thinking that this might be quite a tough, but worthwhile listen. It definitely is worthwhile, but it is not tough at all. It is about 45 minutes of pure joy and enthusiasm for life that you w ..read more

This week’s podcast guest is Jacqui.   Based up in the North East, not far from me, Jacqui only took up wild swimming in 2020, but loved it so much, and was so determined to swim trough winter, she set up The Chatter Challenge to help swimmers, new and old, to stay motivated and keep going.   The Chatter Challenge looks likely to become a regular feature amongst existing winter swimming challenges.     Jacqui brings new energy and enthusiasm, an inclusive approach and she has a puppy who looks great in her Chatter Challenge branded Dry Robe! I hope you enjoy listening to h ..read more

Welcome to the last episode of 2020. This is a small treat for any of you missing your swim buddies. It’s a group episode. Katy, Justine and Erica join me to talk about starting wild swimming in 2020 and what a gift it has been in a year of so many losses, both big and small. I hope it conjures the illusion of being surrounded by your swimming friends, laughing and joking after a swim, high on adrenaline. However your year is ending, I hope this at least brings a smile and a small ray of hope that even in a tough year, there are new things waiting for us that will bring us joy. Have a peaceful ..read more

This week’s podcast guest is Ed Accura, creator of A Film Called Blacks Can’t Swim and co-founder of the Black Swimming Association. If you aren’t familiar with the statistics in the UK, 95% of Black adults and 80% of Black children don’t swim. 25% of Black children leave primary school unable to swim, and only 1% of Swim England competitive swimmers are Black or mixed race. The reasons why people from Black and other ethnic minority communities can’t or don’t swim are many and complicated. We can obviously only go into so much detail in the hour we chatted for this podcast. But Ed goes into ..read more