What inspired you to get into wild swimming?
From as young as I can remember I've loved water. My mum told me that when I was a toddler aged 3/4 and out on walks I would seek out the biggest puddles and just jump right in, on hot summers days she'd find me in the garden sat in a big bucket of water. When we moved up to the Lake District from Yorkshire I was 8, Jack was 6 and Robbie 11. Our garden had the River Eden flowing right past and this really kickstarted our love affair with swimming. All 3 of us were strong swimmers and were part of the school swim club but it was swimming outdoors that was our true love. We'd spend summer days cycling to find hidden swim spots, lakes and waterfalls. There was no deep meaning or inspiration behind this, we did it for the same reason children do pretty much anything, it was fun. We did it for the sheer joy of it.
How has your life changed since you got started?
After University I'd moved down to London aged 22, I got caught up in the corporate whirlwind and 2 years later was feeling trapped and confined by my urban cage, my youth spent swimming in the Lake District seemed like a far-off fairy tale and I'd turned to ultra-endurance races and Ironman's to keep my sanity in check, a release from the cacophony, congestion, and chaos of London. After selling our family home my brothers and I decided we wanted to do something different to say goodbye to the area we grew up in so we set out to swim all 90 miles of our childhood river, the River Eden. Over the course of 9 days we swam every mile source to sea and the Wild Swimming Brothers were born. Since then we've swum in the deep Arctic in protest of oil drilling, escaped from Alcatraz and swam our Grandmas loch for the Scottish Wildcat.
How do you find the time to swim alongside your day jobs?
Swimming’s actually one of the easiest exercises to fit in, a 30 min swim can be a really great session and you don't need as much kit or time as other exercises. A pair of speedos, goggles and swimcap folds up pretty nicely in your bag. I swim at lunchtimes or at the weekend when I can, I'm not too regimented and don't really call it training, I swim because I love it so it's more lifestyle than training. I always use the "Friends" analogy to break it down for people. It takes 30 mins to watch an episode of Friends, in the same time you could have swum a mile and be done, as soon as you break it down like that for people they realize it's excuses that are preventing them fitting it in, you have to prioritize exercise. Unless you're a doctor you're not saving lives and you might think your job is super important but you need to take a reality check and let the working day end, go for a swim and let your mind mend.
Any top tips for a Londoner who’d like to give it a go?
Yes absolutely, you wouldn't think it but London is one of the best cities in the world for swimming outdoors. There are tons of fantastic outdoor lidos where you can acclimatize and hone your swimming, Brockwell, Parliament Hill, London Fields and arguably the world’s most iconic Lido - Tooting Bec. After a quick dip in your local lido you're ready to go for your first wild swim in London. You don't need much more than a bathing suit, some goggles and a swim cap will finish of the look. My tips would be to relax and enjoy yourself, don't focus on distance or time spent swimming just enjoy yourself, the smell and taste of the water, the colours and sounds and revel in your new found aquatic world.
What are the top three spots that you suggest we go if we wanted to try out wild swimming in London?
For me Hampstead Ponds are one of the best, I'll put that at number 1, easy to get to, 3 different ponds (Ladies, Mens and Mixed) and an oasis of natural tranquility nicely nestled in North London. One of my favourite ways to spend a Saturday in London is to go for a stroll on Hampstead Heath, a swim in the Mixed Pond and then pottering around Hampstead's Daunt Books. I also love the Serpentine, you can get off the tube in Knightsbridge and within 15 mins be bobbing around in the water at eye level with a Moorhens nest, it's the juxtaposition that I love, these elements of nature get so lost in the city that we forget that these animals are living right beside us. My final spot would be the Kings Cross Pond, this was a beautiful living art installation tucked behind Kings Cross station, it's since been shut down to build flats, and we need more and more wild swimmers so we can keep spots like this open in the future! Little Brother Jack wrote an article on the 10 best wild swimming spots in London.
Rediscovering nature is an important theme in the Wild Swimming Brothers story - how else do you reconnect with nature in your own life? Any houseplants or maybe an urban garden?
Being in touch with the natural world is the core theme of our story and we try to connect with nature in many different ways. I'm a keen gardener and last summer alongside my housemates turned our tiny Streatham Hill garden into a vegetable patch, we grew courgettes, 3 types of chillis, sweet peppers, 4 types of tomato, beetroot, lettuce, purple sprouting broccoli and a herb garden. Spending Sunday mornings out in the garden and tending to the natural rhythms of growing vegetables was wonderful. I also have somewhat of an indoor garden, I've quite a few Bonsai trees, an army of Cacti (my favourite Big Bertha is about 3 foot), some Ginsengs, Spider Plants, a Yucca and tons of Succulents. I love looking after them and learning what the they like and where they thrive, slow hobbies as I call them are really a great way to switch off and a great aside from modern millennial quick entertainment. I also keep two African Clawed Frogs called Bert and Ernie, they've got live aquatic plants in their tank and rather friendly when it's feeding time, looking after them is a joy and I've also got a huge tropical fish tank with Gouramis, Silver Sharks, Cichlids and some Plecos. My girlfriend Serena has an 8-month-old Sproodle called Hugo so my weekends are spent walking him and exploring London’s parks. A life lived without nature is a life without balance, the sooner we realize that our place is within the natural world rather than in charge of it, the better for all.
What’s next for the Wild Swimming Brothers?
We've got a very busy year ahead, we've got a book coming out on the 19th April through Yellow Kite, it's called "Swim Wild" and we hope to inspire lots of people to go for their first wild swim and embark on their own aquatic adventures - you can order it here. We're also going to be swimming the mighty Hellespont with SwimTrek, from Greece to Turkey, and following in the footsteps of Lord Byron. I'd also like to fit in the Robben Island swim, just need to stop watching Planet Earth documentaries with Great Whites eating seals! We also really want to focus on getting more people outdoors and embracing their first wild swim, we know how incredible it feels to remain in touch with the natural world despite living in London and if anyone wants to try out there first wild swim then get in touch :)
Check out The Wild Swimming Brothers on their Instagram and website, and be sure to pick up Swim Wild here. For more wild swimming recommendations take a peek at Wild Swim or The Outdoor Swimming Society.
