OUTER HEBRIDES

EDITOR’S LETTER

Welcome to the first issue of Outdoor Swimmer! We are

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SWIM SNAPS

Send us your best pics of your outdoor swims to editor@outdoorswimmer.com.

COMPETITION

BEST Fest is Europe’s No.1 open water swimming festival

MY FAVOURITE WILD SWIMMING SPOT

Dinosaurs, a ghost village and golden sands. Ed Richards

GRAEME MOORE

Graeme Moore suffers from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and has had both his feet amputated. This summer he plans to complete the Great North Swim

First person to swim from Cuba to USA honoured 39 years after historic swim

First person to swim from Cuba to USA honoured 39 years

Golden weekend for Italy in first round of FINA marathon season

Golden weekend for Italy in first round of FINA marathon

Éva Risztov announces her retirement

Éva Risztov, 2012 Olympic gold medallist in the 10km

YOUR CHANCE TO SWIM WITH THE ELITES!

In the early days of triathlon it was common to see

Creating the London Marathon of swimming

London Marathon Events launched Swim Serpentine in

THE SPRING CLEAN

Spend 10 minutes cleaning your favourite swim spot this Easter

VIEW FROM THE WATER

It’s not a case of ‘out with the old, in with the new’, says Outdoor Swimmer founder and publisher, Simon Griffiths

TRUE ADVENTURE IN OUR OWN BACKYARD

In September 2016, Ian Rivers, Nicola Goodwin and Julie Hardman became the first people to swim and walk the entire length of the River Wye from the source at Plynlimon through to the Severn estuary

Outdoor Swimmer

BEYOND CLUBS TO COMMUNITY

According to the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA), 22% of women and 20% of men in England are unable to swim. Alice Gartland meets inspirational Swim London coach Harley Hicks, whose mission is to ‘rip those statistics apart’

LEAPING FOR THE JOY OF SWIMMING

Ella Foote meets Alexandra Heminsley, author of Leap In, an emotional account of her venture to tackle the sea, from learning to swim properly to swimming from island to island in Greece

Water Colours

Inspired by her wild swimming adventures, Nancy Farmer decided to immortalise her swims as drawings. She soon discovered that people were delighted to be caught in her sketchbook

THE HOUSE THAT ROD BUILT

Jason West tells the story of how an old swimmer’s generosity led to the formation of a vibrant swimming community

COACH CASSIE

Our resident Olympian answers your swimming questions

WHAT IS NEURAL TRAINING AND WHY DO IT?

Total Immersion founder and head coach Terry Laughlin looks at the principles and protocols of training your brain and presents a sample set to get you started on making your training neurally orientated

THE FEEL GOOD FACTOR

Sport psychology is the study of how psychology influences

SPRING INTO ACTION

Finding it hard to fit in your swims and fuel yourself properly? Here are three recipes for the timepoor outdoor swimmer from nutritionist Kathy Findlay

TRAIN NOW

Whatever your distance, try one of these training sets from Fiona Ford

LAND OF A THOUSAND LAKES

Wild camping and swimming – Jonathan Cowie gets back to nature in Finland’s Lake Päijänne

IN FROM THE COLD

Beginner ice-swimmer Julia Horton jumped in at the deep end at the Great Britain Ice Swimming Championships in Loch Lomond

SWIM, RUN… SKI?

Jonathan Cowie heads to the Czech Republic to take part in a weekend of winter swimming – and the ultimate winter triathlon

MAKING A SPLASH

Chris Thompson waited until he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, to enter his first open water race – the Low Country Splash

THE MONSTER WITHIN AND WITHOUT

What lies beneath and ahead for a storied Canadian-American swim. By Elaine K Howley

LET’S SWIM!

UK AND INTERNATIONAL EVENT LISTINGS

OPENWATER GOGGLES

We tested more than 30 goggles with the Outdoor Swimming Society in the pool

Editor’s letter

Welcome to the world of outdoor swimming! If you haven’t

WHY SWIM OUTDOORS?

Swimming outdoors offers so much more than the pool, says Simon Griffiths

WILD SWIMMING GUIDE

Daniel Start, author of Wild Swimming, shares his tips for taking the plunge

UK TOP 10 FOR BEGINNERS

A dramatic glen with many wonderful pink-rock river

OUTDOOR SWIMMING KIT

You don’t need a lot of kit to get started but a few choice items will help

FRONT CRAWL BASICS

Start your journey towards becoming a more efficient and faster swimmer

BETTER BREASTSTROKE

Follow our nine steps to an efficient breaststroke technique you can be proud of

THRILL TO THE CHILL

John Coningham-Rolls, vice president of the International Winter Swimming Association, explains the joys of cold water swimming

TAKE THE PLUNGE WITH A SWIMMING HOLIDAY

The growing range of swimming holiday options includes guided tours, training camps and events – and there are lots of great resources to support a DIY trip. By Jonathan Knott