Over the last seven weeks I’ve been providing some stories and advice for people preparing for the Outdoor Swimming Society’s big virtual Longest Swim on the Longest Day. The idea is to encourage and celebrate everyone to a longest swim for them around the time of the longest day of the year - “any stroke, any distance, any age, any place.”
I thought I’d bring together into one post three quite inspirational stories of swimmers I’m coaching that, as Swim Coach In Residence for the OSS, I shared on the Longest Swim closed FaceBook group. Each brings some special lessons and ideas that I think other swimmers may find helpful. And there’s a little bit about my own evolving plans for the solstice swim, jus two days away.
Swimmer #1: The Mindset of a “Proper” Swimmer
Our first swimmer’s story is very typical of many who are new to swimming, spurred by the urge to escape to the water when all the restrictions of lockdowns closed in.
A one time speedy runner and racket sports aficionada, swimming was always something others did. Living by the coast she felt the pull of the water, admired from afar groups of changing robed dippers gathering in the early mornings and wanted to discover what it would be like to be one of them. No great distances or epic events in mind – more a sense of wonder-filled wondering how it would be to become a real swimmer. If only…
Last year we met for a one to one in the sea. She then started regularly swimming in her local pool and gradually grew in confidence and swim fitness. Then everything closed. All through the cold Winter months, though, she regularly dipped in the sea, joining the friendly group on her local beach. A wet suit is now on order and she’s been able to start swimming again at her local pool – though aghast at how breathless she was after only a length or two first time back.
With a little guidance and regular practice the easy fluency and fitness is already returning. When we chatted last I was struck, though, by how she felt out of place in her local pool – inhibited by what she called the “proper swimmers” ploughing up and down or basking at the end of the lane as if they owned the place.
She also felt daunted by the numbers – would 1.5kms be Long? 3kms? She was convinced that an OSS Couch to 5km programme would be out of reach (I don’t think it is), but what will count?
I suggested at this stage we put the numbers aside, letting times and distances take care of themselves as a consequence of what she can do rather than a target to accomplish. We’ll make her Longest Swim, however long she settles on later, a celebration of how far she has come – and how much further lies beyond, just waiting to be discovered.
So we’re keeping up the social dips for the sheer fun; regular pool swims for growing fluency and fitness; eating, sleeping, resting like a swimmer.
And I’ve suggested claiming her space in the pool, not in an aggressive or territorial way but simply telling herself she is no less a “proper” swimmer than any one else. Chances are some of those who look intimidating are feeling just as awkward or uncertain – maybe masking it with a veneer of bravado or, in the absence of enjoying it, a determination to get their ordeal over with as soon as possible.
And that is not how we swim. Ever. Which will take us to our second swimmer’s short story.
Swimmer #2: What Really Counts
Whereas our first Story was about a swimmer who is new to swimming, our next one comes from a former youth champion swimmer – though like all too many, lost the interest after years of intensive training and competing. Later on wild swimming grew as a passion and a way of life. She then suffered serious health issues and full-on debilitating treatment that has only just finished.
So what has she done? Set a target of a 9 mile swim in September no less, with the Longest Swim a step along the way. Wow! But how to restart after all the treatment? And avoid the pitfalls of the way she trained before that led to dissatisfaction and burnout?
We decided on an initial recovery phase of a few weeks where everything is light and easy. And we used a set of measures grounded in wellbeing. On a 0-5 scale we focused on:
enjoyment: where 0 is a dreadful experience, 5 is tremendous, can’t stop grinning fun
connections: 0-5, focused on any one or all three connections: being at one in nature, with others she may come across or in touch with herself
fluency: where 0 is when nothing seems to come together and 5 is losing herself in the rhythm and flowing movement.
We’ve just started something that looks and feels like regular training, grounded in a deep, life affirming place.
Try it! Make enjoyment, connection and fluency a central, defining quality of the way you swim before getting locked into counting off distances. You’ll be surprised at how quickly it feeds into going further, faster and with less effort.
Swimmer #3: Special Ingredients for a Long Swim
Our third intrepid swimmer’s short story is perhaps the most daunting, though that’s not to take anything away from our previous swimmers’ big challenges. Swimmer Number 3 was on to swim the Channel this September - sadly just last week having to withdraw. We had originally planned for a six hour cold water swim about this time. So a long swim by any standards and would have been his longest at that point.
We won’t go into the details of his full on programme (bit scary), or why it’s not happening this year (still a bit raw). However, there are two themes that have been key and that we’ll build in to next year’s preparations.
The first is variety. Visiting the same pool or venue four or five times a week and counting off lengths can get very monotonous and mind-numbing. So we made a point of mixing up where to swim: sometimes adding unexplored stretches of our local beach; or taking to a river, against or with the current; a reservoir; lidos... And for his six hour swim we were planning a trip to the Lake District, to be somewhere extra special and different again.
The second theme is community. Swimming is by its nature a solo sport. Yet we both constantly find such a richness in connections made on the beach with other swimmers and dippers (though that might be down to people knowing we’re well stocked with post-swim hot chocolate!). As we swap our long and short stories, aspirations and ambitions, chat about conditions and forecasts, we both feel a warmth of shared interests in each other’s endeavours and an energy from our collective enthusiasm.
The Longest Swim Convoy
And my own planned swim? As you’d expect this draws on the aspects above: a celebration of doing what we do, with a wonderful community of swimmers and without worrying about specific distances or times.
There’s also another lesson around the swim, too - about adaptability and going with what nature allows. Originally I had thought of swimming with members of our local swim group up and down our nearby river, where none of them have ventured before, passing under as many bridges as each person wanted to do: The Bridges Boomerang. However the heavy rain in the last few days has made us revisit the plan.
Our new plan is on Monday morning for a friend and I to set off from the far end of our long beach and swim all the way back to our regular spot - further than she’s done before. Along the way other friends from our swim group will enter at whatever point they feel up for and swim with us in convoy, finishing in a big group.
There’s still time to sign up - here. And you’ll see there are lots of opportunities to share your own Longest Swim stories.
From somewhere over there to somewhere over… there: The Longest Convoy