The Outdoor Swimmers' Handbook: Collected Wisdom on the Art, Sport and Science of Outdoor Swimming

Product Information

What are the signs that you should get out of cold water, especially if the adrenaline is masking signs? Modern life has made many of us feel tamed and now we want to turn to swimming for rewilding. When swimming, we are not passively consuming the landscape, we are pulled into it, breeze flattening the water surface beneath our faces, warmth draining from our bare feet like colour leaches out of the landscape in the cold autumn light. We are there, damp from the clag by a tarn, underneath the belly of a swan as it takes off. We are part of the planet and all the elements again, in a place where moons wane, storms swell and life ebbs and flows throughout the seasons.

Outdoor Swimming Society Outdoor Swimming Society Home – Outdoor Swimming Society Outdoor Swimming Society

Some people find it deeply unpleasant [...] These people happily hang up their trunks after the summer and won’t be seen again until May,” she explains. It's very much a matter of choice,” Kate says. “For the cold-averse, wetsuits have become amazing. If your focus is that you want to swim up and down a river, and enjoy nature and relax, then having a wetsuit might be a really important part of your journey - you won’t need to worry if it’s too far for you anymore.” Kate Rew is the founder of the Outdoor Swimming Society and has established three iconic open water events - Dart10K, Swoosh and Hurly Burly - and spearheaded an international resurgence in swimming outdoors. Dive into the wonders of the popular nature-meets-wellbeing sport with Kate as she brings together the art, sport and science of being an outdoor swimmer and shares everything you need to know to enjoy swims in the wild. Dani is Much Better Adventures' Deputy Editor and the author of a novel, the Arctic Curry Club. She's interested in helping everyone find their inner adventurer, despite obstacles they encounter.

You'll find your breathing becomes regular again, and you'll start to embrace the slightly fresh feeling, rather than be afraid of it,” she explains This is like an overheard catch up of everything that’s been learnt and experienced in the last 16 years of The OSS,’ says Kate, ‘everything that we, as a community, have learnt about understanding rivers, lakes, sea, about the physiology of cold, planning swims, night swims, and how to swim better.

The Outdoor Swimmers’ Handbook - Outdoor Swimming Society

Calum Maclean is a broadcaster and Ambassador for The OSS. He is the author of 1001 Outdoor Swimming Tips (Vertebrae Publishing). On insta: @caldamac. Through the lenses of community, the environment and mental health, Toes in the Water is a collection of inspiring stories exploring why the underwater world can have such a profound impact on people.Between now and then our community has shared adventure and misadventure, philosophy and practical tips, as we have discovered and articulated what we need to know to swim in lakes, rivers and seas, from how to read weather to how to survive cold. Now Kate has wrapped this collective knowledge on the art, sport and science of swimming in a new book, The Outdoor Swimmers’ Handbook (Rider, also available signed in The OSS Shop). Just as there was a time before triathlons, skateboarding, surfing, mountaineering or mountain biking, there was a time when mass-participation open-water swims were not commonplace. That time was 2006. In the fresh grip of a love for adventurous swimming and eager (messianic in fact) to get more people out of pools and into British rivers and lakes with me, I set up ‘Breastrokes’, a one-mile charity swim, and I chose the two best-known lakes I could think of (perhaps the only two lakes I could think of) in which to host it: the Serpentine in the middle of London, and Windermere in the Lake District.

swimmers – Outdoor Swimming Society Expert tips for beginner swimmers – Outdoor Swimming Society

Not for records. Not for fame. Not for compensation. But for the genuine joy of venturing into rivers, estuaries, lakes, and sea for a simple dip, a wild swim, and aquatic adventures of all sorts.” Owen: “I don’t even do front crawl, so I hope not! Just do whatever you want – dance like no one’s watching. As long as your head is above water and you can breathe, do what you like. I do a bit of breaststroke, but a bit strange with one arm over here and the other over there, and I do side stroke as well. It’s just whatever’s most comfortable, not all of us are doing mammoth swims. Make it your own, this is not a race, Get into two foot of water and sit down, if you want. I do that a lot of the time.” Does anything bug you about how outdoor swimming is portrayed? The Outdoor Swimmers’ Handbook ‘is like an overheard catch up of everything that’s been learnt and experienced in the last 16 years of The OSS,’ says Kate, ‘everything that we, as a community, have learnt about understanding rivers, lakes, sea, about the physiology of cold, planning swims, night swims, and how to swim better. There are no hard and fast rules on how long to stay in the water for - some people have far higher tolerance for cold than others do. Even experienced swimmers like Kate still feel the cold! Photo: The Outdoor Swimming Society.Kate Rew started The Outdoor Swimming Society in 2006 at a time entering open water for fun was considered dangerously left-field: dirty, dangerous, and possibly illegal. Freshly passionate about swimming, she started taking other people swimming, who in turn took other people swimming.. and along the way learnt a lot about water, and set up some of the most iconic swim events in the country (the Dart10k, the Bantham Swoosh and the Hurly Burly).