Today I chat to Jonty Warneken, an all round proper good chap, who is much smaller than he was when I met him! Jonty is a cold water swimming, mega skiing, former rugby playing, dog loving amputee who has massively inspired me hugely on my journey though the ice.  He is an ice miler, global board member for IISA and top pal of mine. We chat about how our experiences were similar, but very different, as young people and how these events have shaped our futures. We chat about losing a limb, losing identities and losing a whole person in weight.  We chat rugby, swimming and learning abo ..read more

I AM BACK ..read more

I am joined by Laura Nesbitt and John Myatt who I have had some magic swim-ventures with. Together we are The River Otters and we have some INCREDIBLE things in the pipeline for the future. I keep pinching myself at what we have planned. Laura and John kept me sane through the whirlwind of 2020 and we spent many hours in rivers, and the Bristol Channel. They have become great friends of mine. Otters, thank you and I am super proud of you both. In this episode we discuss many different topics: mental health, eating disorders, abuse, loss of identity, guilt, not achieving our potential, longevit ..read more

In today's episode, I have a natter with my wonderful friend Kate Steels who is currently six swims into her Ice Sevens Challenge. Ice Sevens is the pinnacle of ice swimming: it consists of swimming one ice mile on every continent, of which one must be swum at zero degrees, and has only ever been completed by two people. Kate is on track to become Britain's first.  Covid restricted Kate's swimming plans to reach South America in 2020 but it is very much on the cards for 2021 when the world opens back up again. Kate has secured sponsorship from Axa Insurance to complete her final swim. Rea ..read more

We are trying something new on The Swim Tribe Podcast in this episode! Caroline is joined by fellow open water swimming coaches Laura Nesbitt (Outlaur Swim Coaching) and Fenwick Ridley (H2O Trails) to debunk common misconceptions about winter and ice swimming. We all have over 50 years of combined outdoor swimming experience and are seasoned ice swimmers with all of us having completed bucket list swims from ice miles, to marathon swims and to the English Channel.  Caroline coaches at Cliff Lakes, near Tamworth; Laura coaches from Clevedon Marine Lake and Fenwick from Sweethope Lough, Nor ..read more

Caroline chats to Nick Hungerford, a seasoned Ice Miler, competitive Ice Swimmer and member of the Serpentine Swimming Club.  Nick races under IISA Australia, and has swum at numerous events that Caroline has attended. Nick is also a member of the IISA GB Board (IISA - International Ice Swimming Association). In this episode, we chat about Nick's job, all the cool places it has taken him, how he first started swimming outside, being a later life swimmer, ChillSwim, building up to an ice km and then onto an Ice Mile, how we train, different recovery techniques, importance of an experienced ..read more

In this episode Caroline is joined by Zoë Forbes. We first met at my first ‘real life’ job after graduating and she has enriched my life ever since. We bonded over our mutual love for swimming and I finally, gently persuaded her to join me for an outdoor swim, In January! Straight in at the deep end, but she took to it like a duck to water. Zoë became a central character in our community, bringing her belly laughs and wicked sense of humour. In 2019, Zoë got the news that she had both cervical and ovarian cancer and has since gone on a monumental journey fighting this with humour, unbelievable ..read more

Caroline has a chin wag with her good pal Neil Curtis. A lot of people have approached me over the years with ideas, but never have they really materialised into anything. From our first conversation, I knew Neil and I would get on like a house on fire and have loads of adventures together. Two years later, we have swum three lakes, three peaks style, swum around St Mary's, Scilly and had some daft adventures on rivers in the Midlands. Neil normally drags along the awesome Mrs Curtis along to join Mummy Sax (Caroline's mum) who will often both join us for a dunk. We discuss Neil's (arguably la ..read more

Caroline has a catch up with Jo Jones, a fellow open water coach, channel swimmer, current record holder for the fastest Bristol Channel crossing from Penarth to Clevedon and 500m ice swimming champion.  We discuss where it all started for us both and getting into swimming as kids, how you never stop learning, safety, pushing yourself too far, learning what works for you, ice miles, Russia, wetsuits, ear plugs and not comparing yourself to others.  Even after all the years we have been swimming, you never stop learning. This was the first podcast I recorded and I want to thank Jo for ..read more

Welcome to the first full episode of The Swim Tribe Podcast. Caroline has a chat with Tom Hawkes who is embarking on his first winter season after being exposed to the delights of winter dips at Tits to the Wind 2019.  It has been a delight chatting to Tom and we talk about experiences of our first winter swimming seasons. We talk about how to embark on starting winter swimming, new friends, old friends, ice cream heads, mental heath, adventures we have been on and the communities that we are part of.  We also discuss three bits of kit that Tom thinks all people who swim outside shou ..read more