What is wild swimming?

[Paul_B]

What's your view on open water swimming? About 10 years ago I recall that was the term for swimming in lakes, sea or rivers.

I also think wild swimming covers the act of getting into a river, stream or steep creek plunge pool for a soak rather than a physical swim. From what I know of people in wild swimming groups possibly over half of them seem to barely swim and treat it as a social with a little bit of a swim. Open water swimmers tend to be the ones who actually do a few miles on a lake.

 

[TeeDee]

What's your view on open water swimming? About 10 years ago I recall that was the term for swimming in lakes, sea or rivers.

I also think wild swimming covers the act of getting into a river, stream or steep creek plunge pool for a soak rather than a physical swim. From what I know of people in wild swimming groups possibly over half of them seem to barely swim and treat it as a social with a little bit of a swim. Open water swimmers tend to be the ones who actually do a few miles on a lake.

Apply the same thoughts to Bushcraft - something that is has been described and is a very broad church of varying interpretations , levels and practices..

Now , why is it important to define different types of swimming activity but not what we call Bushcraft?

And if it really is that important to define it - why??

 

[stonepark]

....... When you take that extra step to try and cast to a fish and find the bottom is no longer where you thought it was........

 

[Tony]

I usually swim at least weekly in the sea, year round, it feel hard core sometimes but other times it's just placid and lovely, one of my favourite times was night time, moonlit water, bats flying about, amazing, although at 7 deg it was nippy. I'm not sure i'd call that wild swimming, where as getting in water in places that are off the beaten track, that seem more wild/wilderness has a different feel. That's just me, lot so people think that me and my friends wild swim becasue it's out of their comfort zones.

It's just a name, as a kid we swam in the rivers and sea. Maybe lots of people just don't relate to doing things in the outdoors as much as they used to, so it gets named for the clarity of a group or generation, or for marketing... Not sure.

But, I'd encourage anyone to get stuck in and enjoy some swimming in places they'd not usually, as long as it's safe...

I'd definitely call Dawn Thomas from on the forums here and the BushMoots a wild swimmer, she wrote a book about swimming all the beaches, inlets and coves in South Wales, definitely some wild places.

Over all I like @TeeDee take on it...

 

[demented dale]

They do lots of wild swimming here in Ireland. Its wild as well as wild. All weathers and conditions. I saw some of them jumping into the sea in a tempest. They were having great fun x

 

[Tony]

It's hard to beat some decent waves to play in no matter the temperature

 

[Jonno70]

We would swim in any water as kids and young adults from park lakes to the sea we used inflated inner tubes from trucks as boats dodged many a turd in the tide. Anyway last summer I went to the River Duddon for a paddle slipped over and had a full dunking after the initial shock I had a swim around and enjoyed it. You do feel better afterwards it does something to your body/brain and I can understand why folk do it.

 

[TeeDee]

I think these days if one was to talk to a group of friends or colleagues and asked if they wanted to go swimming some time - many would assume you meant the swimming pool .
In a nice heated swimming pool topped to the gills with Chlorine and sterilized bodily fluids.
This is the more modern abundant adopted western civilization model of swimming I believe.

The offer of outdoor swimming encompasses going somewhere where access is not planned by municipality , may need definite effort to get too, that will experience a range of temperature fluctuations in the water itself and is open to the various elements of weather we enjoy in the UK.

I've met a lot of adults whom enjoy wild swimming through out the seasons ( majority being women ) but not hardly any children or teenagers - which brings me back to the conclusion that dipping in the river or lake on a summers day with friends in your youth is indeed swimming and social and enjoyable.


I would encourage anyone to try swimming away from the swimming pool environment and those that harken to their youthful riparian days to reconnect and reimmerse themselves once more.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Swimming in sewage infested waters.

 

[Tantalus]

I would encourage anyone to try swimming away from the swimming pool environment and those that harken to their youthful riparian days to reconnect and reimmerse themselves once more.

Don't forget, the added bonus of free leeches.

 

[Broch]

When I was in my late teens I dived into a deep river pool in Scotland; I fainted and my brother had to pull me out. I have been very cautious of sudden cold water immersion since then - even more so now, but I do enjoy swimming in fresh water - lake, river, tarn.

 

[TeeDee]

Don't forget, the added bonus of free leeches.

True -Have had close up encounters with horse Leeches.

 

[TeeDee]

When I was in my late teens I dived into a deep river pool in Scotland; I fainted and my brother had to pull me out. I have been very cautious of sudden cold water immersion since then - even more so now, but I do enjoy swimming in fresh water - lake, river, tarn.

Thats a valid concern. Cold tempering needs to be done gradually - before my trip upto the Arctic circle I'd probably had two seasons of constant winter swims - and they would start every summer and just make sure I swam at least once a week and did that consistently year around. Like anything gradual adaption needs to be treated with the respect it deserves.

 

[Stew]

When I was in my late teens I dived into a deep river pool in Scotland; I fainted and my brother had to pull me out. I have been very cautious of sudden cold water immersion since then - even more so now, but I do enjoy swimming in fresh water - lake, river, tarn.

A very valid concern!

This is a good listen:

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castbox.fm

 

[Megatramp]

It's part of the daily on the road and if I'm out wandering and stumble upon a nice pool or waterfall I'm in it. But I wouldn't make a special journey solely to swim somewhere.

I have seen areas of river caged off with pontoons around the sides and lanes for swimmers to enjoy, for a small fee. Each to their own.

 

[MikeLA]

reminds me of the Billy Connoly (vinyl record for anyone who remembers them) where he talks about swimming as a child in Scotland.

"They call it the North Sea but it is really just the Arctic Ocean".

I remember that joke also when he said wearing woollen bathing costume. I was told to go swimming in the sea by parents on holidays in north Scotland with just such a costume aged 8-11 to have fun and we did.
Even in the 1980s there was a sewage problem in our waters and the rest. Remember fishing in a river, I fished out more flushed condoms than fish.

 

[demographic]

When I was a kid we used to go over to the river Caldew at a place just by Carrock mine called Swineside.
I say we swam there but really we slid down a bit of a waterfall, did a few strokes in water never warmed by the sun, told our mates it was warm and nice then laughed when they believed us and jumped in.
After that we on the bank wrapped in a towell trying to get warm again.
Sometimes we had a tractor innertube and went further down the river.

Seems thats called wild swimming now. Better suited to book titles and podcasts I guess.
My older sister had a VW beetle though so mebbe we were middle class afterall.

 

[bearbait]

Even in the 1980s there was a sewage problem in our waters and the rest. Remember fishing in a river, I fished out more flushed condoms than fish.

I used to do a lot of sailing back in the 80s and would often swim off the boat at anchor. Particularly in the Solent area I would get a sore throat after the swim. So I stopped swimming there.

 

[Pattree]

I was once with two of my children at the scout camp behind Snowdon. We were looking at the river that runs through it over a very smooth sloping fall and wondering if it was safe to let the youngsters swim in the pool below. As we talked three of them including mine came cascading down the falls. How many bums have smother those rocks.

I used to swim regularly in the River Bollen near Altrincham (Cheshire) as well as in a couple of municipal vats of chlorine there and at Stockport. Also in the lakes at Mere and Pickmere.

 

[Paul_B]

The Burrs slalom course somewhere towards Manchester I was told by old slalomists that there was a dye works upstream. They never knew what colour they'd be paddling in until they got there!

A mate I wildcamped a few times with once swam in a lakeland tarn high up. You know the old tip to check upstream from where you take your water from? Well having done that with most of the inflow streams to that tarn I can quite simply say I'd not swim in it. Every stream into the tarn were up little valleys just deep enough to squat in and have privacy for a number 2. There was signs that's what people did, every stream had human faeces near the stream edge and toilet paper was in the streams. Absolutely disgusting.

I later found out from my mate that a certain youth outdoors organisation with a couple of sites in the lakes and many other places took kids wildcamping there. He thought supervision wasn't great. It was his sneaky overnighter spot at one time. I doubt any of my friends go there now.

As lockdown and covid restrictions eased we got into a chat with an old guy who grew up swimming in the canal near us then. They used to even break the ice for a dip too. Until one bad winter it froze enough to walk on and one friend fell through and died. He said nobody thought anything of it, taking a swim there. Now he said it's too polluted with oil from all the touring canal boats there. I think he was right as we'd often see belly up fish floating on the surface that had a nice rainbow colouring on the surface.