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I wouldn't look over your shoulder at what everyone else is doing. They might have swum all winter, they might have a completely different body mass or physiology to you - just do what feels good to you,” Kate explains. The handbook is a fascinating compendium of knowledge that Kate has acquired over the past 16 years. Outdoor swimming, she explains, is a largely oral tradition, with one person passing on their knowledge and expertise to another. Calum Maclean is a broadcaster and Ambassador for The OSS. He is the author of 1001 Outdoor Swimming Tips (Vertebrae Publishing). On insta: @caldamac. Ready to try it out? Kate’s new book, The Outdoor Swimmers’ Handbook, contains decades of accumulated knowledge about planning a swim, understanding different water bodies, and acclimatising to the cold. She’s also given us her five top tips for getting started with outdoor swimming. 1. Coping with the cold Getting into the water slowly will help you acclimatise. Photo: Finisterre Microadventure. I have been doing what writers do: playing secretary to the world, listening in, listening out and writing it all down,” she explains.
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Night Swimming’ is a love letter to “the hour of the day when colours fall out of the world, day slips into the water, and a rich inky-blue night slides in, bringing with it a stillness, a quietness.” From practical pointers - such as how to be more visible in the water to poetic descriptions of moon bathing and bioluminescence, it’s pretty much guaranteed to inspire you to hit the water after dark. There's something about a swim that's so freeing and so resetting," Kate says. "It makes life technicolour and it makes emotions resolve themselves without overthinking.” One of the most lyrically written chapters is ‘Understanding Cold’, which we anticipate will be of particular interest to readers in this era of Wim Hof mania.
"Swim like no one's watching" - and other wisdom for those starting outdoor swimming
Wild swimming is a good practice ground for controlling your thoughts and anxieties - we all have them.”
Outdoor Swimming 5 Tips for Getting Started with Outdoor Swimming
Rew suggests several reasons why this might be - freedom from gravity, immersion in nature - but at the end of the day, she doesn’t want to over-analyse it. Kate Rew, founder of the Outdoor Swimming Society. Photo: Finisterre Microadventure 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. 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. The Outdoor Swimmers’ Handbook is an accessible, knowledgeable guide to outdoor swimming. It is a brilliant balancing act between practical tips and a passion for the open water. Best of all, it emphasises the sport’s inclusivity; everyone, regardless of age or ability, is encouraged to try outdoor swimming. After you’ve finished reading it, you’ll be inspired to take the plunge too. On 16 October world-famous athletes Dame Kelly Holmes, Sir Chris Hoy and Ross Edgley will embark on a ‘Tri for the Sea’, to raise awareness for Talisker’s ongoing marine conservation with Parley for the Oceans
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Kate Rew is the Founder of The Outdoor Swimming Society and author of The Outdoor Swimmers’ Handbook (Rider) and Wild Swim (Faber), (both also available signed in The OSS Shop). On insta: kate_rew. Watch the premiere of Under the Surface, a documentary that follows swimmer Jim Read exploring acceptance after injury, men’s mental health, and what it means to be vulnerable as a man in the endurance swimming world Safety is a relative term. If you can’t swim, everywhere that’s out of your depth is unsafe,” she says. Through her profound creativity and enthusiasm, Rew’s efforts and publications have literally encouraged, guided, and inspired millions of people – first starting in the UK and then expanding globally – to take to the open water. 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.
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