Dear fellow swimmers,
November has been a bit of a whirlwind for me. It has been brilliant, lots of swimming and travel, but also full-on. The start of the month I was in Findhorn, Scotland (above) leading brilliant women on a swimming and writing weekend. The weather was stormy, cold and beautiful all at the same time. We leapt over waves, made use of a high
tide in the estuary and enjoyed a hot sauna while the rain came down in buckets. The weekend after I celebrated the publication of my first book, How to Wild Swim, with family, friends and new-to-me swimmers. We swam in cool 7ºc water, ate cake shaped like a book and I got to sit and sign books, too.
I then managed to fit in some time at the desk to finish the December issue of the magazine, which should be arriving over
the next week to print subscribers, before travelling up north to the fantastic Kendal Mountain Festival. As well as some indulgence at The Samling Hotel - they have a lakeside location and hot tub - I was able to meet up, swim and chat to many swimmers. It was a huge privilege to host the Outdoor Swimming session at the festival and it was one of the best line-ups we have had. I was joined on stage by our Olympic swimmer Hector Pardoe, the impressive Yvette Tetteh talking about her 450km Volta River swim and also the lovely Jonty Warneken who did a record making swim across the North Channel this summer. The energy in the room was everything: warm, bright and celebratory. I think many swim-ideas were sown and I look forward to seeing what is achieved in 2024 from even more swimmers.
In this week's newsletter we are fully prepared for cold-water swimming with a round-up of long-sleeved
swimwear, a chance to revisit our winter webinar and
inspiring you to try a pond dip with sauna in the Brecon Beacons. I also loved Glenda's cold water self-talk that she shared with us.
