Wild swimming in the UK

At last the scorching summer they predicted is here, at least for a few days... When it's like this there's nothing I want to do less than sit in front of a computer and nothing I want to do more than take a dip in the sea or any other body of fresh water. Rivers, lakes, waterfalls, ponds. There's something really magical about swimming in natural water - for one, you feel much more connected to the scenery around you.

I've had a few great wild swimming experiences, including a lake in the Ardennes in Belgium and Lake Bled in Slovenia. A definite surprising highlight is the women's pond in Hampstead Heath right here in London. It's a haven of peace, a secret society of women and a corner of wildlife within a bustling city.













Here are some more wild swimming highlights in the UK:

- The mystical circular waterfall at St Nectan's Kieve near Tintagel in Cornwall: legend has it that King Arthur's knights were babtised here ahead of their quest for the Holy Grail.

- The River Dart in Dartmoor, Devon: bathe in remote river pools surrounded by steep lush forests.

- Swimming in the sea in Abereiddi Bay on the North Pembrokeshire Coast in Wales

- Taking a dip in the Moray Firth near Inverness, Scotland : a number of rivers flow into the Moray Firth and there are various bays and inlets to swim in.


For more information on wild swimming:

http://www.river-swimming.co.uk/places.htm
http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/

[Anouk]

Picture of the month

I love the feeling of freedom this photo exudes. You can also sense the haste to get into the water. More on wild swimming coming soon.

Nam Khan River... Photo by Ra Song

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10340867@N07/3659405833/in/pool-travelphotojournalism

[Anouk]

Swimming the length of the Amazon, on film

Short post but to share something that caught my imagination when reading about it at the time he did it.

Martin Strel from Slovenia in 2007 swam for 10 hours a day, to take himself from Peru, across Latin America and out of a Brazilian estuary to the Atlantic Ocean.

3,274 miles in 66 days... Say nothing of the current! Plenty of that the dark water hides. And wild swimming.

A truely remarkable achievement, which is by a number of accounts captured in a remarkable documentary. For those reading in London, showing throughout September at the Institute of Contemporary Art, just to name one place.

[George]