Dear fellow swimmers
Like everyone else in the outdoor swimming community, we were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jeremy Laming, Henley Swim co-founder and a trailblazer in the outdoor swimming community.
Jeremy, along with his friend Tom Kean, started their dawn swim along the Henley Regatta course in 2004, several years before
the boom in open water swimming got going.
Born out of necessity, the 4:30am start became a feature of the event, adding to its mystique and prestige. I remember the briefings in the dark, followed by Jeremy leading a torch-lit march to the start, and then entering the mist-shrouded water just as the sun came up.
I first met Jeremy shortly after I launched Outdoor
Swimmer (H2Open back then) in 2011 and he invited me to take part in what is now known as the Henley Classic. The following year, we organised the “H2Open Day” and Jeremy volunteered to take on the role of compere for the event and ended up managing our speaker programme for the day.
Two years later, Jeremy asked if we were interested in combining our event with the Henley Mile and the Outdoor Swimmer Henley Swim Festival was born. We had a close
relationship with Henley Swim until they paused operations in 2025. In line with his love of innovation, one idea we developed together was the “suits vs skins” challenge. This invited people to swim the Henley Mile twice, once with a wetsuit and then without, showing people how much they benefited from neoprene.
Beyond his connections to Outdoor Swimmer, Jeremy (along with Tom) created the popular Thames Marathon and Club to Pub swims. They also
launched Selkie, a swim clothing and accessories brand. Jeremy was also a leader in his local open water community, setting up several open water swimming clubs.
His passing leaves a large gap in the outdoor swimming community and our thoughts are with his family.
