By taking on the Dart10k I'm raising money for Level Water, a charity who use the power of swimming to improve lives for children with disabilities. Starting with 1-1 swimming lessons, they provide opportunities for the children to learn to swim. From physical development to social and emotional confidence, swimming is a vehicle to change their lives for the better.And they believe EVERYONE should have the opportunity to learn to swim and fall in love with the water.

PERSONAL STORY  - ARTICLE MAY 2021

I fell in love with outdoor swimming in my mid 40s and I joke in part that it was my mid life crisis -  a choice between wearing a tight neoprene suit or a motorbike.  I had recently retired from Sunday morning football  – hip and knee wear and tear -  where I was increasingly getting selected for my availability rather than my ability, and I was encouraged and inspired by a dear friend, a longstanding  outdoor swimmer and recoverer from breast cancer,  who had heard my boast about coming 2^nd in the Stretford schools u10 25m freestyle final far too often.  

Since then, the journey has progressed from gravel pits west of London to regular Saturday mornings and weekday evenings at Shepperton Lake from spring to autumn and a more ambitious series of events and races.  Highlights include the annual Henley Thames
Club to Pub – a bottle of beer and commemorative bottle opener on finishing - Buttermere, Coniston, River Arun, Hampton Court to Kingston Bridge,  Hever Castle, Salford Quays, Millwall Dock. the  Serpentine (not the cleanest lake), Boscombe Bay, 10km Thames Jubilee River and a two day 15km round the Scilly Isles which was exhilarating, mentally challenging and knackering.  Next year (August 2022) is a twice Covid postponed swim across The Bosphorus.          

Outdoor swimmers (even more so pure wild swimmers) evangelise  about their experiences. It’s a combination of the physical and mental challenge, overcoming the anxieties and uncertainty even the best swimmers experience from time to time when in deep water, the sense of freedom and liberation that you don’t get in a pool, and being immersed in and part of nature.  This is all beautifully encapsulated in  “Waterlog” by Roger Deakin, a gentle and wonderful travel narrative of British cultural heritage and natural history via a personal swim journey. To quote:

“So swimming is a rite of passage, a crossing of boundaries: the line of the shore, the bank of the river, the edge of the pool, the surface itself. When you enter the water, something like metamorphosis happens.  Leaving behind the land, you go through the looking-glass surface and enter a new world, in which survival, not ambition or desire is the dominant aim. …..You are in nature, part and parcel of it, in a far more complex and intense way than on dry land and your sense of the present is overwhelming.”         

I’m a great believer in the link between healthy body and healthy mind. And outdoor swimming makes that link for me. It keeps me fit (ish), along with pool swimming during the winter, so that I can still almost eat and drink what I want, and it clears my mind; a catharsis: creating thinking time and space, an opportunity to do my best thinking.  I also enjoy and benefit from the great friendship and encouragement of my swim buds.  We are a loose group of 15 or so, some being longstanding friends and others more recent.  We are all shapes and sizes, with a huge range of ability, keenness, and competitiveness, from those who represent UK in their age group ironman and duathlon competitions (not me) to those who are happy with the odd 1km swim when the water is warmer, sweeping up at the rear.  

What we all share though is a bond of support and camaraderie that I have not experienced in other sports.  It is very much a personal endeavour but also a shared experience where we understand each other’s challenges, provide encouragement, and celebrate each other’s achievements. This has been even more evident during Covid when some lakes have remained open for swimming during the late autumn and winter months, when permissible under lockdown, and a hard core has been braving water at sub 10 degrees, when peer encouragement is definitely required (so are gloves and boots).  Just getting out and swimming has been wonderful. 

It is now hitting 12 degrees plus which is a lot more tolerable, and more of us will be out at 8am this weekend at Shepperton Lake. See you there!

Neil Greenwood May 2021