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Original poster

Thread to evangelise about open water swimming!

78 replies

dynevoran · 14/07/2015 07:27

Where has this been all my life? The feeling is amazing. I started at the start of June and can't believe I've swum all my life and never tried it til this year.

I did a 1.5km event/race on Sunday and came 26th out of 71 people. I'm just over the moon at 32 years old to finally find the exercise that clicks and I really love and am naturally good at. I persevere with running but I'm not a natural. I enjoy weights but the buzz isn't the same.

So if you like to swim....make the most of this amazing weather and start open water swimming before the proper season ends! You might be like me and have finally found your calling - fitness wise!

OP posts:
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TriJo · 14/07/2015 15:15

By the way - anyone doing the Great London Swim at the Excel this weekend?

suzannecanthecan · 14/07/2015 15:23

I've heard various things about the therapeutic effects of very cold water

pootlebug · 14/07/2015 15:48

I love swimming in open water too. I was in a quiet corner of Mallorca a couple of weeks ago where you could climb in off the rocks directly in front of the house we were renting and just swim along hugging the coast for ages. Bliss.

I am really really really lucky that I only a mile away from a heated (but not too hot) year-round outdoor 50m pool. It has spoilt me for other pools though! Indoor swimming is bleurgh by comparison.

sleepwhenidie · 14/07/2015 15:52

Oh wow triJo - I might do that!

BathtimeFunkster · 14/07/2015 15:54

Thanks for the suggestion, OP.

I love swimming, especially outdoors.

I swim out as often as I can in summertime, so maybe I should try getting into it more regularly and joining a club, going to practise sessions, and doing some races.

PrivatePike · 14/07/2015 15:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Guadalupe · 14/07/2015 16:09

I love outdoor swimming and really wish we had a lido.

At Easter we had a waterfall walk in Wales and it was such a suntrap by one pool I decided to go in and my god it was freezing. I actually couldn't breathe.

I was confused and thought about swimming in Scotland and the Hebrides and it not being nearly so cold and then it occurred to me that I had not leapt into the North Atlantic in APRIL. There was snow on the mountain. Of course it was bloody freezing even though it was sunny. What a twit.

LornMowa · 14/07/2015 18:50

Just joining the thread to say how much I agree! Someone in my Tri club lent me a wetsuit last week. We did a sneaky open water swim at a local gravel pit. I loved it. So much less stressful than trying to swim in the local pool where people continually get in your way.

The only thing that flummoxed me was that after the swim all the blokes got changed just there at the side of the water. No one was flashing and I wouldn't have been upset about seeing their wedding tackle but I wasn't sure whether I should have made a big thing of going else where (I was the only woman). In the end I just did my best changing with my back to them using a very large bath towel. Is there an etiquette for this?

Mermaid36 · 14/07/2015 20:04

Lorn yup, we all get changed together! But discreetly Grin

I've got a Robie robe which is brilliant - if your crafty, you could probably make one from 2 big towels...

MurielWoods · 14/07/2015 20:12

Ahhhh, I have found my people Grin

unlucky83 · 14/07/2015 20:42

Love outdoor swimming...and always have preferred fresh water to salt.
But yes to being safe - stay within your depth or get acclimatised first and don't go too far out.
Never jump in - not just because of broken necks but it might be a lot colder than you think (There are tarns in the Lake district that are incredibly deep and so freezing cold all year round -people jump in get cramp and they often have steep sides so you can't climb out.)
I used to go swimming in a river just downstream from a weir -it wasn't big and mainly within my depth, on a summers day it was fantastic. I also used to like going to Tooting Bec lido -although in summer it used to get rammed. And there was another one (Brockwell park(? I think) in Brixton -but I never actually went there as every time I tried it was just too busy.)

The coldest place I have ever tried to swim was in Banff in North East Scotland (North Sea).
It was July and it was lovely and warm on land - 20+degrees - in the sea it was freezing - so cold that wading out once it got above thigh depth my fanny did something weird like a cramp thing I've never experienced before - it actually physically hurt Confused. And it did it every time - no matter how long I stood still to acclimatised -or went in quicker etc tried on other days I just couldn't do it.

Original poster
dynevoran · 14/07/2015 21:07

Muriel I feel the same!

I'm so impressed by the number of people doing it already. I feel annoyed that no one told me before how good it is Grin

specialsubject that's a good list of common sense safety things - I take for granted that I attend staffed sessions that make it feel totally safe. Like you say it's common sense but I guess some people have sadly got carried away and forgotten to take proper care.

I think when the lake stops running sessions in the winter I'm going to go to west reservoir and maybe even the tooting bec and parliament hill lidos.

I used to swim London fields lido and it does give an exhilerating feeling but for me it doesn't quite match the open water feeling.

I was freaked out before my first session about the temperature, walking on slimy stones / mud on the bottom, not being able to see / being able to see fish, water being dirty....And all those fears were totally unfounded. I swam 50m and stopped and danced around the water with a massive goofy grin on my face!

I'm loving reading all these experiences and bravery. I was all ready to shelve it and await the start of the season in May but now I'm determined to carry on past September as long as possible wherever I can find sessions.

mermaid windemere sounds like a wonderful place to swim. Two ladies on Sunday at my swim at dorney lake said they did a mile there this summer. I think that is in my diary for next year. I have swum this year in a mixture of a wetsuit and costume when over 22° - was the windemere event allowed wetsuits at all? I like the buoyancy but it was great to feel so free without it as well.

I loved dorney lake but the only swim left there this year is on the same day as Kew gardens 10km which I foolishly signed up for. So I found a team tri with a long swim in September and I'm going to do the swim leg...just need to persuade someone to do the bike and run legs.

OP posts:
Original poster
dynevoran · 14/07/2015 21:11

I'm tempted by the excel London swim...a bit apprehensive about water quality though. Anyone done a Thames swim before?

OP posts:
Mermaid36 · 14/07/2015 22:06

dynevoran the Great North Swim and the Thursday night training are wetsuit only....Chillswim events are non-wetsuit if wanted :-)

thedevilinside · 14/07/2015 22:35

We usually manage a Thames swim every year, not an official one, DP and I just jump in. We're in Reading. Have always been wild swimmers, it's just normal to us. DP's dad grew up in East London in the 1930s and taught all the local kids to swim in the Thames.

TriJo · 15/07/2015 10:11

Dynevoran I did the Great London Swim in 2013, water was a bit murky but it was fine. It was cancelled last year though for water quality issues. Also did the London Triathlon last year which is very close to where it's on this year.

Water is warm enough in the south-east at the moment that I really do not see the point in making wetsuits mandatory at any event tbh.

MurielWoods · 15/07/2015 12:24

I'm sure that many of you have already but if not, do join the Outdoor Swimming Society on Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/outdoorswimmingsociety/?fref=ts

There is also the Women In Open Water page if you fancy a female only group www.facebook.com/groups/wowswimming/?fref=ts

Open water swimming has changed my life - it's something that I have been too scared to try but wanted to do for years but I am so pleased that I finally too the 'plunge' as it were.

I don't identify myself as an athlete at all (think middle aged, well-nourished, wine guzzler) but I have found the OWS community to be the friendliest and most supportive group of people I have ever met.

I live very close to a lovely network of lakes and also a quiet stretch of the River Thames so have plenty of opportunity to go for a swim. Every time I go to the lakes there are dozens and dozens of people there swimming and all a vast range of ages, sizes and fitness levels.

I did the Henley Mile this year which has given my confidence such a massive boost and am now completely psyched up for some longer more challenging swims next year (eyeing up the River Dart 10K and Bantham Swoosh).

I would love to swim in the Lake District. We should organise a Mumsnetters Lake District Swimming Jolly Grin

MNHQ
carriemumsnet · 15/07/2015 21:13

Ooh lovely Colette in the office sent me this thread because we are both evangelistic pond swimmers! I've also come late to wild/ outdoor swimming and have to say I prefer a pond or lake to a lido anytime. But each to their own (this is MN after all :)) I started off swimming in Hampstead ponds in summer months and then a couple of years ago just carried on and didn't stop. Managed to swim without wet suit (but with neoprene gloves, booties and shorts and woolly hat) down to about 2 or 3 degrees but the feeling afterwards is better than anything I can describe. I have become completely addicted to the point where if I don't go I have to have a cold shower (TMI?). I've also found amazing camaraderie amongst the folks I swim with, particularly at the women's pond. That said, I swam at the mixed pond the other week with a woman call Iris aged 86, been swimming all year round since she was in her 20s, still works with homeless three days and week and swims most days. I want to be her when I grow up! Happy swimming all and if you've never tried it, find somewhere with a life guard, tell them it's your first time and have a go!

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 15/07/2015 21:18

Yay, another cold water addict Grin
Have you done much outside London, Carrie? I live in Yorkshire and there is some amazing swimming in the Dales. This was where we went last Sunday:

Thread to evangelise about open water swimming!
sleepwhenidie · 15/07/2015 22:48

Thought you might like this article Magical Highgate Ponds

And also this one health benefits cold water swimming

MehsMum · 15/07/2015 22:51

I learned to swim in open water and it's true, there's nothing like that feeling of being out in a river.

We took the dog with us once, and the DC, who were smaller then, treated him like a sort of dolphin: they and he had a fab time. You can't do that in a municipal pool.

Pantone363 · 15/07/2015 23:06

Love this thread!

I know nothing of weirs or lakes or lidos but I regularly swim at our local creek. It's so lovely and warm because the sun heats the mud up when the tide is out. I'm trying to get braver and not think about seals (not sure why a seal would bother me anyway!). I've set myself a challenge to swim out to a particular buoy and back again.

This is the pic of us last week, the DC love it!

Thread to evangelise about open water swimming!
sleepwhenidie · 16/07/2015 07:48

Wow, where are you Pantone?

Seals are like puppies, I've dived with them, don't worry! The big ones aren't interested and the babies want to check you out and play Grin

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 16/07/2015 08:48

Oh, how amazing to have seals around!

My rivers mostly have trout and perch. As long as there are no pike I am happy.

MrsAukerman · 16/07/2015 09:40

This is where we were earlier in the month. I'm naughty though and did a rope swing off into a plunge pool at the bottom of sa waterfall.

Thread to evangelise about open water swimming!