In the middle of January gloom, cold water is a salvation. The tingle, the buzz, the afterglow and the warm-hearted, brightly coloured community bring joy at the darkest times.
So does looking forward to a swimming year ahead. Packed with events, challenges, travel, culture and opportunities, there are plenty of reasons to be excited. Yet, concern about our climate and water quality is a constant undercurrent. So, how will we navigate outdoor swimming in 2025?
EVENTS AND CHALLENGES
With the Cold Water Swimming Championships in London coming up (25 Jan), events are on our minds. Events mark a rhythm for each outdoor swimming year – cold water and ice galas flow into distance and location-based races and challenges with a high summer swim festival peak.
Beyond physical challenges, these events are true celebrations of outdoor swimming – the sport, its communities, venues and locations. For many of us, events offer safe, supported opportunities to swim in ways we haven’t before, raise money for charity and achieve something extraordinary.
“The Bantham Boomerang and the MiniSwoosh are huge highlights for me,” says the swimming charity Level Water’s CEO, Ian Thwaites. “The Mini-Swoosh is for kids, and we have a bunch of Level Water kids who come and join us. Seeing them take to the outdoors for the first time – and finish on the same beach as the fundraisers who are supporting them – really brings the whole joy of swimming together in a moment of magic. There will be tears.”
Choose your starting line for 2025