Could this be anywhere else but Australia? Long time readers of this blog would know that I am an Australian by birth, who now lives in Scotland. I had not returned to Australia since my arrival in the UK in 2014, so when I received an invitation to attend my eldest daughter’s wedding in Australia in October 2023, I decided to return. It was an opportunity to spend a lengthy time there, to catch up with familiy and friends, and visit places I had not been to for far too long. Plus of course to do some swimming in the warm waters of the place I used to call home. My flight arrived into Sydney a ..read more

Plunging into the ice on a coldwater retreat in Wales During the last few months of 2023, I visited the land of my birth Australia for the first time in nearly ten years. There were many highlights of that trip, which will be in another post. However, when I was visiting Perth WA on the way home I went for a few swims with the Podsquad at North Cottesloe Beach. I quickly realised when I was swimming with them that I was no longer the fastest Australian in that body of water. Anyway I was presented with a swimcap by the group, having swum with them three times. I got talking to Leigh and it tur ..read more

I will be teaming up with GoExperience to undertake a unique swimming adventure in late September 2022, on board a 51 foot yacht with five double berths, all with ensuites. We will be sailing from Split, and taking in the islands like Brac, Korcula, Hvar, subject to the weather conditions during the week. The plan is to have at least two swims a day, exploring the wonders of the Croatian islands, staying onboard the yacht for the whole seven days. We will be mooring up in secluded bays and coves most nights, eating amazing meals cooked by the skipper and crew. I am very excited to be returnin ..read more

A short swim after another successful coaching session in Loch Lomond I am writing this blog post in early December 2021, thinking it has been far too long between blog posts. This is not a year in review for 2021 as I hope to have that post up in early January 2022. However, I wanted to explain why there has been such a long time between blog posts. The year of 2020 was a year of massive change for a large number of people, and for me it was no different. My plans to visit Australia for the first time since 2014 to spend time with my father, attend my son’s wedding, and meet my granddaughter ..read more

Sunset in Crete at the end of the season I recently wrote this blog entry for The Big Blue Swim, and thought I would share it here with you. The Big Blue Swim (https://thebigblueswim.com/ ) operate swim adventure holidays in Greece over the summer. I have had the very good fortune to have worked with them as a guide since the summer of 2018 in two of their locations in Crete and Lefkada. Swimmers come from around the globe to enjoy a week long holiday in stunning clear water and warm sunny days. The locations are absolutely amazing, with great company, good eating and the knowledge that you as ..read more

I am writing this blog entry in early January 2021 looking back on that year of 2020, which will be remembered by so many people as a year of loss, isolation and lockdown. It was of course the year that a virus swept the world to create a pandemic with a range of responses around the world. My nation of birth Australia quickly went into full quarantine quite early, closing its internal and external borders, with a working track and trace system, with around 900 losing their lives. My adopted country of the UK adopted an approach of exceptionalism, kept its borders open, reluctantly entering i ..read more

Dawn over Loch Lomond Most of my blog entries are about races, long swims, or swim holidays. Today I thought I would just write about the routine fun swims that I do in Scotland over the summer. My normal place to swim is Loch Lomond, but this loch is 36km long, so there are plenty of places to get in to go for a swim. Normally I swim in the mornings with a group of swimmers from the Lomond Loonies, a group formed around ten years ago. It is a very sociable group with a number of triathletes who have done ironman events, others who have conquered the loch (swum the length of Loch Lomond), or ..read more

The warm waters of Loch Lomond I am writing this blog entry during the late May bank holiday weekend in 2020. Normally at this time of year, I would be swimming as often as possible, enjoying the relative warmth of Loch Lomond as the spring sun heats it up past 10c. I used to think I would die when I first exposed myself to water of that temperature; but now I celebrate it, as I know that summer is coming. However, 2020 is the year of the great pandemic lockdown, and swimming in Scotland is not allowed at this time, unless you are lucky enough to have a waterway within walking distance of wh ..read more

Our escort boat on its way to the Balloch slipway One of my swim pals Gary was training for a non-wetsuit attempt on the length of Loch Lomond, a swim of 36 km. As part of that training, we had done the Inchtavannach and Inchconnachan loops several times, building up to distances of 5.5km.  The warm summer of 2018 had continued, with the water in Loch Lomond between 19.5c and 20.5c, which was very pleasant for my 2km morning swims with The Lomond Loonies (a magnificent way to start the day). One evening a few of us went to Loch Ard for the full moon, and the water in the shallow loch wa ..read more

Loch Voil looking back towards the starting point The stunning early summer weather was continuing in early June 2018. A few of my friends had been discussing an attempt to swim the length of Loch Voil. This loch lies in an east west position in the middle of Rob Roy country. The man himself is buried in the churchyard at Balquhidder, having died in 1734. It is also the site of the last part of the Jacobite Rebellion from the 1740s (with that rebellion featured in Outlander). Both of these events would be ancient history in Australia (settled by Europeans in 1788), but in Scotland, that is m ..read more