In this podcast Darrin Roles talks about the Lock-to-Lock swim series in the Thames, Oxfordshire, its origins and its development.

open water swimming all year round near the arctic circle

I love the kick, the buzzing feeling that awakens the whole nervous system and all the senses I love the “I am alive feeling” I get.

The uninitiated, not knowing this beast, may not appreciate the urgency with which cold hands dress themselves. The drop waits for no-one.

Winter swimming is one of the most humbling things you can do, because you can’t succeed if you try to fight the coldness of the water.

Looking to the other end of a swimming pool can be daunting for some, especially if you have just started swimming. Contemplating a mile...

For as long as I can remember, I have had a deep connection with water – in any form. Something about it draws me close to it,...

Swimming is my joy. It is the time when I feel every bit of my body, and enjoy it in a way that is lost to me when I am on dry land.

What I feel is taking place in these now frequented open-water swimming spots is not just a connection to the environment but also to each o

“Our last swim,” falls from the lips, muted by what lay ahead in the cold temperatures just yards from the muddy wet cold banks.

We all respond differently to cold water and if you’re new to cold water swimming, its good to get informed.

The internal journey one feels whilst in cold water can be described as very dramatic. And yet the idea is to be completely calm with yourse

Three open water swimmers reveal their primal fears in the water...

Cold-water swimming is good for mental health This is perhaps the most researched and the most commonly cited benefit to cold-water swimming

The Lock to Lock course, set deep in the Oxfordshire countryside is typically British

Getting changed to swim in the rain… on days like this, we’re here for the challenge. There really is nothing else that we do in the rest...

The year 2020 was just eleven hours old and I was walking with a friend. I told her I’d been river-swimming a couple of days before, and...

Since October last year, greeted by a confused head-shake of a welcome from the lock-keeper, a neoprene-clad group of us have met up one...

There’s no room in the ground for the rain. There’s no room in the river. The water has spilled out across the land and before us, lies...