Reflections & intentions for 2023 | What we learnt from last year’s survey | Train for an event in 2023
Published: Sat, 12/31/22
Your essential weekly edit of outdoor swimming
YOUR ESSENTIAL WEEKLY EDIT OF OUTDOOR SWIMMING
#swimwildandfree
Dear fellow swimmers
Thank you for reading our newsletter and for being part of our community. If you’re a regular reader you may have noticed it’s been a busy year for our team, starting in the spring with the launch of our new-look website.
We’ve also made changes to Outdoor Swimmer Magazine. After seven years as editor, Jonathan Cowie decided to focus on other projects (although luckily for us, he’s still very much part of the team), while Ella Foote took over the reins and redesigned the magazine. If you haven’t seen a copy recently, I urge you to take a look.
We’re continuing to see new people trying outdoor swimming, with the appetite for cold water seemingly insatiable. There is also continued widespread coverage of outdoor swimming in the media, including some unpleasant words recently from Giles Coren in The Times – you can read our response here, which was one of the most-read stories on our website this year.
At the same time, we’re seeing our pools threatened with closure as they are burdened with increased energy costs while still recovering from the effect of lockdowns. While in the short-term, reduced access to pools might drive people to swim outdoors, in the long-term I see pool and outdoor swimming as tightly linked, with pools often being the most convenient places for learning to
swim and training.
I am therefore hoping 2023 brings better news for pool operators. We are part of a cross-industry swimming collaboratorium working to support swimming as a whole, but chiefly as a voice for
outdoor swimmers. It’s therefore important that we know what you want from outdoor swimming. With that in mind, we’d be grateful if you could complete our ‘Attitudes to Outdoor Swimming’
survey. The findings will not only be useful to us, they will also be shared with government, governing bodies, pool operators, businesses and charities so you will be helping to shape the future of outdoor swimming. Plus, you get a chance to win some super prizes!
Happy swimming and best wishes for 2023,
Simon Griffiths Founder & Publisher, Outdoor Swimmer
P.s. I know you already know this, but the best way to support our work, and to access stories and up-to-date swimming advice, is to
subscribe to Outdoor Swimmer Magazine.
FEATURES
REFLECTIONS AND INTENTIONS FOR 2023
We asked the Outdoor Swimmer team, contributors and our community to share reflections on 2022 and their open water intentions for the year ahead. Your reflections and intentions were heartwarming, enlightening and inspirational. They spoke of strength, sisterhood
and solidarity; reviving long-distance ambitions; improved representation; and a desire to reconnect. Read on to be inspired.
…and why you should complete this year’s survey to help shape the future of outdoor swimming! We are part of a cross-industry swimming collaboratorium working to support swimming as a whole, but chiefly as a voice for outdoor swimmers. It’s therefore important that we know what you want from outdoor swimming.
Have you taken on the Winter Dip
yet? You can still join hundreds up and down the country taking on an exhilarating festive dip and helping to reach the 1 in 10 people around the world who still don’t have clean drinking water close to home. Grab some friends and take your exhilarating dip between now and 5 January - or try a dip each day! It’s free to sign up and you can claim a FREE Winter Dip swim cap when you raise just
£12!
Is this the year
you train for an open water event? Browse the Outdoor Swimmer events calendar to find the perfect event for you – from an ice swim in Morocco and mountain lake crossings to Henley’s classic Club to Pub.
In the morning, adaptive athlete
sophie etheridge took her first ever ice swim, posing with the obligatory ‘holding a piece of ice’ photo. By the evening she was left stranded by a flight of stairs at a Christmas party.
Jan 2023 - REST & REFLECTION | Read it on digital or in print from anywhere in the world. Purchase a single issue or subscribe to a monthly magazine and save
up 20% each month.
TRAINING & TECHNIQUE LEARN A NEW STROKE: HOW TO DO BUTTERFLY
Ella Foote and Kari Furre are your guides to a swimming stroke that can look exhausting and complicated, but feels strong and elegant once you’ve mastered the technique.
Classic Lodges, a nationwide collection of exclusive hotels that all have their own exceptional and charming character, is offering readers the chance to win a luxury two-night stay for two in the picturesque Lake District.
