Dear fellow swimmers
More than a magazine
Back in 2011, when I launched H2Open Magazine – as Outdoor Swimmer was known back then – it was, essentially, just a magazine. But it soon expanded. Alongside the magazine, I built a simple website, which started to include event listings, news and competitions (such as
this one to win a kit bundle from Zone 3). It now holds thousands of swimming related articles and stories – many of which were sent to us by readers from around the world.
I realised a newsletter would be a good medium to share all of this new content, and so we started one at the end of our
first year. That went on to become “The Dip”, which you’re reading now.
At the time, social media was relatively new, but we soon had a Facebook page and a Twitter account before, several years later, adding Instagram. While sometimes annoying, social media has helped foster a sense of community around Outdoor Swimmer.
At the same time, outdoor swimming was growing and evolving – the way you swam, and now swim,
helped shape what Outdoor Swimmer has become.
Going virtual
In the Covid-19 pandemic, we discovered the potential for live virtual events as an immediate and vibrant way to connect with swimmers. We now host them monthly. They are usually fun and lively, and I enjoy doing them – like our recent
interview with Vassos Alexander.
This evolution has led us to reflect on what we do as a business. It’s clear that we’re much more than a magazine and we wanted to reflect that in the language we use.
From this week, we are now talking about “
memberships” rather than “subscriptions”. We feel – and I hope you agree – that we are part of the fabric of the outdoor swimming community. We are all swimmers, and we frequently share readers stories both in print and online. “Membership” reflects this sense of belonging much more than “subscription”.
Moreover, the change reflects
language many of you already use. Readers already talk about “joining” and being a “member”. Also, the word “subscribe” is now more commonly used for email newsletters.
Not only have we changed the language we use, we’ve taken the opportunity to look at the various strands of what we do to make it easier for members to understand and access their benefits.
I won’t go into details now, but please look out for more
emails from us, or hop over to the
Membership page on our website to find out more.
Outdoor Swimmer has grown with you, the swimming community, and our new word choices simply reflect that community belonging. Thank you for being part of our journey.
