The art and challenge of wild swimming
The Lock to Lock wild swim series is not just a competition, but a celebration of the art of swimming and the beauty of the natural world.
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Wild Open Swim
Inspirations from swimming through the seasons
The Wild Open Swim Blog is a celebration of open water swimming all year and the photographs, words and artwork that it has inspired.
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Ruth Rayner
- Mar 3
- 4 min
1000 consecutive days and more…
Ruth Rayner didn't set out to swim every day for for any particular length of time but somehow it became a way of coping
259 views
Tony Davis
- Jan 11
- 4 min
Poems from the river
In this post we see the river through the experience of Tony Davis, an Oxfordshire artist, poet and fisherman. Tony was inspired to write...
245 views
Fred Newton
- Sep 30, 2022
- 3 min
Swimrun on the tranquil Thames
Fred Newton from swimrun.com describes the excellent swimrun through Wytham Woods and the tranquil Thames
297 views
Fiona Undrill
- Aug 29, 2022
- 8 min
Campaign to save our rivers & seas
Although we would prefer our articles to reflect the many ways the water helps us, we must acknowledge we swim through the scene of a crime.
183 views
Annika Surry
- Aug 19, 2022
- 4 min
From cold water to open water: the continuing journey
Annike describes her ongoing journey - the evolution she has made from cold water dipper to open water swimmer, and the great benefits felt
2,578 views
Aerin Bowers
- Jul 28, 2022
- 3 min
Lock to Lock Training Adventure
An open water swimmer from Canada shares her experience of a training swim down the Thames, in preparation for the Zurich Marathon Swim.
248 views
Melanie
- Feb 12, 2022
- 6 min
A Blind Swimmer’s Vision
What is it like to be a partially-sighted wild swimmer? A double paralympic champion Melanie writes about her wild swimming journey.
568 views
Gemma Ferrier, Mel Haward and Lisa Keeping
- Dec 5, 2021
- 8 min
The Cool Vibe
The cryo bio of three swimmers reflecting on cold water exposure, what it has meant in their lives and why they keep doing it. Why do I...
467 views
Fiona Tomlinson
- Nov 20, 2021
- 4 min
Wild swimming with teenagers in West Cork, Ireland
There is something about swimming in the sea, something constant and comforting, nostalgic in a way.
1,993 views
Three wild swimmers: Fiona, Darrin and Kath
- Nov 6, 2021
- 4 min
It's beginning to look a bit like winter
Three wild swimmers reflect on the return of winter swims
244 views
Simon Griffiths
- Oct 23, 2021
- 5 min
Lock to Lock SwimRun with Simon Griffiths
Simon Griffiths reflects on his performance at the 2021 Lock to Lock Swimrun
197 views
Chloe De Grave
- Aug 15, 2021
- 3 min
Embracing adventure
The events have given me an opportunity to challenge myself, to test my limits, to not overthink it and just embrace the adventure.
105 views
Laura Watson
- Jul 17, 2021
- 6 min
Swimming for life
If I had a daemon I like to think my daemon would be an otter. A rather slow inelegant otter but one who loves the water and is just as...
175 views
Fiona Undrill & Kath Fotheringham
- Jun 13, 2021
- 5 min
Swim the 10k this July: mad fantasy or achievable challenge?
Two swimmers talk through the reasons to do the Lock to Lock 10k this year, or rather one swimmer tries to persuade her friend to join...
283 views
kath Fotheringham
- May 29, 2021
- 4 min
Is it clean…?
We all have strategies to risk-assess the water every time we swim. Is it clean enough to swim in?
414 views
Stanley Ulijaszek
- May 6, 2021
- 3 min
Swimmingpod podcast: Darrin Roles & the Lock to Lock swim events
In this podcast Darrin Roles talks about the Lock-to-Lock swim series in the Thames, Oxfordshire, its origins and its development.
109 views
Fiona Undrill & Katrine Gotliebsen
- Apr 24, 2021
- 5 min
All year swimming in North Norway
open water swimming all year round near the arctic circle
443 views
Annika Surry
- Mar 27, 2021
- 4 min
Cold water has changed my life
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.
986 views
Stanley Ulijaszek
- Feb 27, 2021
- 4 min
Seasoned winter swimming
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.
308 views
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