The Wild Swimming thread

[SybilBeddows]

Any other wild swimmers about? I did the Fairy Pools on Skye last week, which was magic. Anyone else had any lovely swims they want to share?

[SkinnyVanillaLatte]

x posted with you Lost ( I'm a slow typist).

How lovely - I am jealous!

I can imagine myself singing loudly to myself to keep the heebie jeebies at bay, but I'm sure it's something I'd find a level of comfort with in time. Quite honestly,it feels to me like that's part of the attraction - that it'd give me a real buzz.

[SkinnyVanillaLatte]

I've been looking at the Wild Swimming book by Daniel Start and I've become quite fixated with the idea of going to Hampstead Ponds if we get anything like some decent weather,as my first dip outdoors in many years! It seems like a good starting point - quite civilized and non-scary.

I have Waterlog waiting to have a look at too.

I am still worried about pike. Does anyone know what type of water they prefer and how you would know if there were any in a particular place? (I imagine Hampstead Ponds are a safe bet )

[LostInWales]

For a moment there Skinny I thought you'd asked what kind of humans pike prefer. Sorry watching telly and skimming reading . I'm not sure I could swim in a pond, prefer the open sea, somehow I imagine any other aquatic life will leave me alone if there's plenty of space.

Had our weekly swim last night, only rained a little bit!

[SkinnyVanillaLatte]

Yes,at least you can be assured of no pike when you are sea swimming,Lost!

[minimisa]

Has anyone done the Swimtrek Thames holiday? I've signed up for it and am starting to feel a bit stressed as I can't even swim 1k in the lido without being exhausted and will have to swim 6km a day on the holiday. I'm hoping swimming with the tide will make a big difference but would love some advice / reassurance.

VanillaLatte I've swum in Hampstead Ponds a few times and it's really, really lovely. Go to the ladies only pool if you can as the mixed is full of flirting teens but the ladies is super-friendly and a brilliant mix of ladies, plus a few moorhens and no pikes!

[SkinnyVanillaLatte]

minimisa,thanks for the tip with Hampstead Ponds - I can't tell you how relieved I am that there's no gigantic women-eating pike in there!!!!

Will you be swimming 6km a day in one hit? When is the holiday?

[SkinnyVanillaLatte]

I've had a little peek at those trips minimisa,and I am !! Is it the two day one you're going on?

Looking at it - if I'm looking at the right thing -,the longest swim in one go is 3 km,so although the daily distance is high,you'll have decent breaks. It looks like you'll have the help of the current and remember you'll be swimming as a group who I'm sure will encourage you.There's also support,so I reckon you'll be fine.

If there's time to get a bit of distance swimming practice in before then,go for it. I find it takes me a good half mile (sorry - I only really do 'old money' ) to settle in,and then it gets easier,and I can go on 'automatic setting'.

Remember you'll have lots of lovely things to look at along the way too.

I bet it'll be fantastic and I hope you really enjoy it

[minimisa]

Yes, it's the two day trip. I've never swum more than 1km so I'm hoping the current and a few extra weeks training can swing it for me? Most of the info I've looked at advises a freestyle crawl for this sort of swimming though and I feel tired after 100m of crawl, so I'm hoping there are some fellow breast-strokers in the group. The lovely things along the way are the main point for me so I don't want my face submerged too much anyway (although maybe some lovely things underwater although I'll of course be too busy looking for pike to notice).

[SkinnyVanillaLatte]

I'm sure there'll be other breaststrokers,and I reckon you'll find the extra training and current will definitely make a difference.

FWIW,I certainly can't swim crawl over a distance - I'm strictly a breaststroker for stamina stuff.I can swim 5k doing breaststroke,but about 100m ,like you, doing crawl. Bear in mind that some front crawl swimmers are no faster than someone with a good breaststroke. Surely if they recommend crawl it would be a face-out crawl,like in lifesaving rather than face in? It seems odd to me ,to think of swimming down the Thames and not taking in any of your surroundings,otherwise.

Clearly you will need to look in every so often to check out the pike sit rep though

[SkinnyVanillaLatte]

( oooh, get me ,I did those distances in 'new money' )

[SkinnyVanillaLatte]

I have bought myself a second hand shorty wetsuit,and I'm hoping to get a chance to visit Hampstead Ponds at some point this summer.I don't know what people tend to wear there....

As I'll likely be alone, I wonder if anyone can tell me whether there is somewhere secure you can put your stuff?

Also,what are those things called that you can put your valuables in and wear, (round your neck????) and they're water tight?? Or are there any other options?

[minimisa]

I don't remember seeing any lockers at hampstead ponds. I just took as few valuables as I could get away with and relied on trust...I spent half an hour doing laps of the lido this morning without a wetsuit and was absolutely bloody frozen when I got out.

[Neverme]

Hello, can I join you? I love love love outdoor swimming especially in a lake or the sea. Minimisa and VanillaLatte I used to live just near hampstead heath and used to go to the lido and ponds. Minimisa I have a lot of respect for you going in the lido without a wetsuit - used to admire the hardcore regulars going up and down whilst I shivered in my full length wetsuit!

DH and I are both into triathlons which naturally involves swimming. We just did the Blenheim tri a few weeks ago, the swim is 750m in one of the lakes. Probably my favourite bit of the event as the sun came out whilst I was doing the swim, managed to do it in a reasonable time also. We also went swimming a few weeks ago at Blackpool Sands down in Devon which was the most crazy wild swim I have ever done since the waves were crashing around us and it was impossible to swim properly due to the current!

Sadly there are no outdoor swimming places really near us (in Herts). We sometimes drive to Redricks Lakes in Sawbridgeworth, which is an old quarry set up for fishing and outdoor swimming, tho' it's quite sporty outdoor swimming with lots of triathlon types. Don't suppose anyone else knows of any on the north side of the M25?

[Takver]

I compromise on the wetsuit vs no wetsuit thing with a thermal rash vest + swim shorts. More warmth than a swimsuit and not as restrictive as a wetsuit - I hate swimming in wetsuits.

[minimisa]

Taker, where did you get your thermal rash vest from?

[Takver]

You can get them from most surf shops - the one I use for swimming is this one which I find fits nicely & is very comfortable. I've got a thicker longsleeved one which goes under my wetsuit in cold weather, but its not such a good fit on its own.

[SkinnyVanillaLatte]

So,it seems that the powers that be are looking at introducing a requirement for a permit to swim in part of the Thames.....

I am still poised,ready (as soon as I can coordinate a day away from kids and work) to go to Hampstead ponds. I kind of hope it'll be a gloomy-ish day,as it seems it can get insanely busy there on the only hot sunny day of the Summer nice days.

Anyone had a lovely swim to tell us about lately?

[bronze]

Just having a Pootle through what I've missed in I player and came across a program by dr Alice Roberts about wild swimming

[TunipTheVegemal]

Can't believe how long it is since I've been on this thread!
Not done much this year - some good ones in the Ure at Masham, and in the sea in Cornwall and Dorset on hols. Also Lymington Lido (use it or lose it!).
I've started to see the point of a wetsuit - have decided it's for supervising kids in the water, as otherwise you do a lot of wet standing around without enough actual swimming to stay warm. Nice to rip it off at the end and have the proper water-on-skin sensation though.

[TunipTheVegemal]

Oh, how could I forget - Buckstones Jump near Ambleside (follow the stream that goes up past Rydal Hall to find it on the map), which is one of the places Alice Roberts filmed. If you go one pool down from that there is an amazing infinity pool/natural jacuzzi. Look for the pool with the small rowan tree growing over the water.

[Coprolite]

The cave swim on the 'Wild Swimming' programme was absolutely wonderful - I can't remember if they said where it is.