Dear fellow swimmers
Take a moment to reflect on your 2025 swimming achievements
As the year ends, it's natural to look forward. What will you do in 2026? Where will swimming take you? We've got some suggestions below to inspire
you.
But before you do, take a moment to look back. Cast your mind through 2025. What stands out? What swimming memories have you created? If it helps, scroll through your pictures from the year.
For some of you, it might be a big swim that stands out. Perhaps you completed a bucket-list challenge that you dedicated months of training to. Or it could be
something simpler - a quiet swim in a beautiful location perhaps, or that amazing swimming holiday. It seems to me there is little point in collecting memories if you don't then take the trouble to remember them!
Reflect on the bigger picture too. Did swimming to support your fitness, health and wellbeing. Did you find the right balance in your swimming? Did you train consistently and stay focused?
Then, it's worth thinking about any setbacks or things that didn't go as well as planned. Although this may be uncomfortable, you will have learned from the experience. I wanted to take part in an English Channel relay last summer, but I couldn't complete the 2-hour qualifying swim. I had a series of infections that stopped me swimming as much as I wanted. I lost some weight that I had hoped would keep me warmer, and I tried to pack too much in, which
left me exhausted.
Let your reflections guide your planning for 2026. Think about:
(1) what swimming experiences do you want to have and
(2) what habits do you need to develop in order to have those experiences.
And if you want to stay
inspired, improve your connection with the outdoor swimming community, and learn more about swimming, make one of those habits to read
Outdoor Swimmer magazine regularly.
Join our Climategames training league and help
remove plastic from the ocean
For an additional motivation to swim regularly, join our Climategames 2026 Training League. It's free and your swimming will then help Climategames remove plastic from the ocean. You just need to download the Climategames app and either add your swims manually or link your smart watch.
