Star of BBC 'Our Lives' documentary 'The Merthyr Mermaid', Cath is an ice and long-distance swimmer from Troedyrhiw in Merthyr Tydfil. "I absolutely love ice/winter swimming, and in 2020 I achieved a Guinness World Record as the first female to swim a mile inside the Antarctic Polar Circle. My longest swimming challenge was in 2018, the English Channel, solo." Hear about Cath's incredible swimming journey, from discovering the joy of cold water in her local swimming spot Keeper's Pond, to training for her Antarctic swim in a freezer in her shed!

Former Olympic swimmer Neil completed a 125.6km, 52-hour swim between Linosa, an island in the Sicily Channel, and Gozo, one of the 21 islands that make up the Maltese archipelago. The record swim was held as part of a campaign to  raise awareness of plastic waste in the sea. People were urged to support him by getting involved in the ‘Double the Wave’ challenge and the organisation Wave of Change Malta. 

'The Adaptive Athlete', Sophie will be joining us to share how swimming has helped her, and how she has helped others access the sport. Ten years ago Sophie developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) after a car knocked her off her bike. This September she took on the Windermere Two Way Swim, completing this huge challenge in 16 hours and 41 minutes. Sophie created the Adaptive and Open Water Swimmers (ADOWS) group on Facebook in 2020: "I realised how little information there is about disabled open water swimmers and I decided I wanted to change that."

Lake District swimmer Winnie learnt to swim as an adult and now swims year round. In May she ran Winnie’s Mental Wellbeing (in conjunction with the National Trust), an event to celebrate the effect of swimming outdoors on mental health. This summer she passed her open water lifeguard qualification and has since introduced many people safely into swimming outdoors. She is currently setting up the Win Outdoor Foundation, an umbrella organisation that will help black, brown and low-income families swim and access the outdoors. She'll join us to talk about learning to swim, the importance of swimming for mental health, and the work that remains to be done to show that swimming should be for everyone, regardless of skin colour.

Colin Hill is the Director of Ullswater Swim Place and an inductee of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. Colin has been organising open water events for well over a decade with everything from winter swim races through to the Olympics. A passionate long distance and winter swimmer, he also loves coaching and guiding swimmers of all abilities. 

Ella Foote is contributing editor of Outdoor Swimmer magazine, journalist, writer, editor and year-round outdoor swimmer. She strives to break down barriers, challenge ideas and champions 'just doing it anyway'. Her love of swimming and storytelling takes her all over the country, meeting a variety of people, from all different backgrounds.