I was thinking does this really need explanation? But, yes it does! Thank you so much for doing this and sharing perspectives. As always you communicate so inclusively and i feel that this helps people new to outdoor swimming to approach others and understand viewpoints.
Great tips given Rachel, lovely video thank you. If you ever come to Ireland you'll have a choice of quiet and beautifully scenic swin spots, some shared and enjoyed by groups, some super solo spots. Happy swimming 🏊♀️💜
Abso-flippin-lutely. I very rarely post the location of where I swim. Last year, after we were all released from the first lockdown, my regular swim spot loch became a swimmers nightmare. Every spare inch around the loch was filled with people camping, some of whom were chopping down trees for firewood and then left the place in a real mess. Locals picked up sack loads of rubbish including tents, soiled nappies and broken glass. To top all of this off the warden was doing late night patrols during a period when the ground was bone dry, to check for unattended fires etc and he was stabbed and ended up in hospital!!! I read somewhere that if someone was to DM you and ask for the location of your swim spot and you tell them, they are likely to tell five other people. So before you know it the place will be heaving with folk. I do love the inclusiveness of outdoor swimming but we really do need to be careful of posting locations for so many reasons. x
That's terrible on the warden, I hope they have since recovered and can still enjoy the outdoor life. It's a fine balance between sharing and spoiling. I tend to share ones that are at public access areas, such as beaches, or well-known spots, but am a little more cagey about any that are slightly more tenuous on the access front! 🏊😃
I live with my partner in the remote wilderness in 🇨🇦 (PNW region). People often wonder why we chose to live here... “way out in the sticks in the middle of nowhere”. Your video answers this question. We have access to so many outdoor activities without the hassle of crowds. On a hot summer afternoon, the townies all show up to the water spots, and yes, it is crowded in that situation. The answer is either to go swimming in the morning to avoid crowds, and of course, as everybody reading this comment knows... go swimming in all weather conditions, not just the sunny days. Rachel, I had trouble concentrating on what you were saying... I was distracted by the awesome looking swimming adventure behind you. Good times in the water await there!! 🏊♀️💦
I'm waiting for the right tide, and perhaps a little bit of fog for atmosphere before swimming this one. Also, it's a short swim, so I may wait for it to warm a little and swim up and back. I often swim really early and even when the beaches are reported to be crowded here, I swim alone or wit a friend. It's not just the places but the timing and the all-weather nature of it 🏊😃
Glad it was helpful! I'm really happy when people enjoy the content. I want people to enjoy swimming outdoors, and not to be paranoid about why people are cagey about swim spots 🏊😃
You might have a pebble in your pocket, but I'm likely to have a crisp packet or sweet wrapper in mine. We sound like kindred spirits. I just can't leave the rubbish on the ground.
This is ace! I'm a longtime wild swimmer (who's done much more last year than normal) and have always in the past been a big sharer of swim spots and been dismissive of people being secretive- I think I always thought there was a bit of snobbery in it. But this makes perfect sense, thank you for a really insightful video!
I'm with you on the sharing front, but have come round to thinking that I cna easily and freely share some, whilst the more remote (and tenuous) ones I keep to myself and only share in person 🏊😃
I think it is easy to think that outdoor swimming is a bit of a closed shop at the moment, with 'don't start until the water warms up', 'we can't say where the swim spots are during lockdown', 'group closed to new memebers in the current situation' so I wanted to point out that these statements are all from a point of (perhaps misguided) concern and to not take it personally. With a bit of research and some pertinent questions, the swim spots reveal themselves 🏊😃
Thank you, you explained this so well. I’m very lucky that I’ve been welcomed into a wonderful group of people locally and it’s such a treat to share some of our favourite spots with new people too. There is nowhere safe that is local enough where we are at the moment so I’m enjoying a few of your swim videos in a tub in the garden for now 😄
Sounds like you have alovely group, that hopefully you'll be able to get out and swim with in the not too distant future. You are braver than me getting in a tub, that must take some steely determination! Here's to getting out and about in lovely safe swim spots again soon. Hang on in there 🏊😃
Well timed! I would also add that another reason (linked to the access issues) is that all kinds of people can join those groups including those who don't necessarily support extending access rights to bodies of water whose current ('scuse the pun) recreational uses don't include swimming!
@@EverydayAthleteRach many? Not necessarily, but our local group has had one, and we've since found out this person has gone as far as contacting individuals to get info - we're having lay lower than usual! Sad really but sign if the times I guess - we'll creep back to that particular swimspot eventually though!
Oh, forgot how much l like your up beat and friendly support of this crazy cold water swimming l have been doing. Snow happening and cold winds so have stayed out. But maybe above freezing today. You almost make me want to go back to fb, but just almost 😅
Very true! I like to take a hint of and area then figure it out for myslef, in the same way I like the game www.geoguessr.com/ good job the free version is limited to 5 goes every 24 hours, I'd looks whole weeks to it otherwise.
I’ve been doing this for 2 months and I’ve already recognised the joyous feeling of being the only swimmer at a location. So glad you mentioned the DIY method, nothing feels as personal as a venue that you’ve put the effort into finding yourself.
Wonderful! It's a lovely feeling of being part of the world, but observing at the same time. Finding your own swim spot is particularly rewarding too. Enjoy!
Thanks for another very informative and interesting video. Although I've only just subscribed, I've been watching your videos all through this winter and have tried out several of your suggestions (drying neoprene socks and gloves for example). It's my first winter of open water swimming, but I've been swimming in lakes, rivers and of course the sea for years in summer. So I really enjoyed your video about seeking adventures close to home while we are unable to travel anywhere. At the moment I'm stuck with cold showers because everything is frozen and that makes access at usual swim spots too dangerous. But in the meantime I'm researching potential new swim spots to try out once it gets little warmer.
Are you enjoying the research side of things? I find it often leads to some lovely walks and being off the beaten track. I hope it warms up enough soon for you to get back into the swim of things. Thanks for watching 🏊😃
@@EverydayAthleteRach Yes, I enjoy them very much because of the lovely walks and that feeling of roaming that I've enjoyed since childhood. By the end of this week swimming should be possible again. Looking forward to today's video.
It's totally understandable now that I heard you explaining it. Your channel is amazing, we both really enjoy watching your videos! You're welcome over on our platform as well!
Hi I can’t see one but have you done a how to put on a back zipped wetsuit - particularly during lockdown when weight has gone up and ability to ask for assistance has reduced. Thanks ever so
Hi Alison, there's this one: how to put on a wetsuit th-cam.com/video/uiEG_rQTnAM/w-d-xo.html In these times of no-touching, moral support only, I'd recommend putting it on at home and eliciting the help fo someone there, or perhaps more yoga! 🏊😃
My local (illegal) swim spot had large groups of young people even bringing a powerboat that they didn't know how to use. I'm scared someone will die there and the owners will fence it off
Having been swimming from my local river spot for ten years the only trace was an absence of litter as we collected it. A lockdown group turned up and within a week they cut steps into the bank, put paving slabs in the water and piled a post into the bank and attached a rope. Disappointing
Blimey, that's some ridiculous liberties being taken. It's almost as though people think they are the first there or the only ones to enjoy a spot - and then set about 'making it theirs'. Sad.
Definetly not. Go forth and discover is my preferred method. I love pouring over an OS map to see what the possibilities are. I hope you are keeping well 🏊😃
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I was thinking does this really need explanation? But, yes it does! Thank you so much for doing this and sharing perspectives. As always you communicate so inclusively and i feel that this helps people new to outdoor swimming to approach others and understand viewpoints.
Thanks for the lovely comment. Glad you enjoyed it! 🏊😃
Great tips given Rachel, lovely video thank you.
If you ever come to Ireland you'll have a choice of quiet and beautifully scenic swin spots, some shared and enjoyed by groups, some super solo spots.
Happy swimming 🏊♀️💜
Lena, count me in. I'd love another trip to Ireland and to get some swims in too! 🏊😃
Abso-flippin-lutely. I very rarely post the location of where I swim. Last year, after we were all released from the first lockdown, my regular swim spot loch became a swimmers nightmare. Every spare inch around the loch was filled with people camping, some of whom were chopping down trees for firewood and then left the place in a real mess. Locals picked up sack loads of rubbish including tents, soiled nappies and broken glass. To top all of this off the warden was doing late night patrols during a period when the ground was bone dry, to check for unattended fires etc and he was stabbed and ended up in hospital!!!
I read somewhere that if someone was to DM you and ask for the location of your swim spot and you tell them, they are likely to tell five other people. So before you know it the place will be heaving with folk.
I do love the inclusiveness of outdoor swimming but we really do need to be careful of posting locations for so many reasons. x
That's terrible on the warden, I hope they have since recovered and can still enjoy the outdoor life. It's a fine balance between sharing and spoiling. I tend to share ones that are at public access areas, such as beaches, or well-known spots, but am a little more cagey about any that are slightly more tenuous on the access front! 🏊😃
I live with my partner in the remote wilderness in 🇨🇦 (PNW region). People often wonder why we chose to live here... “way out in the sticks in the middle of nowhere”. Your video answers this question. We have access to so many outdoor activities without the hassle of crowds. On a hot summer afternoon, the townies all show up to the water spots, and yes, it is crowded in that situation. The answer is either to go swimming in the morning to avoid crowds, and of course, as everybody reading this comment knows... go swimming in all weather conditions, not just the sunny days. Rachel, I had trouble concentrating on what you were saying... I was distracted by the awesome looking swimming adventure behind you. Good times in the water await there!! 🏊♀️💦
I'm waiting for the right tide, and perhaps a little bit of fog for atmosphere before swimming this one. Also, it's a short swim, so I may wait for it to warm a little and swim up and back. I often swim really early and even when the beaches are reported to be crowded here, I swim alone or wit a friend. It's not just the places but the timing and the all-weather nature of it 🏊😃
Superb advice. Thank you
My pleasure! I hope it goes some way for explaining the reticence a new swimmer may be face with when asking a heart-felt location question 🏊😃
Thanks Rachel. Really helpful. x
Glad it was helpful! I'm really happy when people enjoy the content. I want people to enjoy swimming outdoors, and not to be paranoid about why people are cagey about swim spots 🏊😃
Beautifully put. Surfers are the same for the same reasons. LNT: Leave No Trace. I always have a bag for any rubbish I find, in and out the water.
You might have a pebble in your pocket, but I'm likely to have a crisp packet or sweet wrapper in mine. We sound like kindred spirits. I just can't leave the rubbish on the ground.
Fab video Rach...I saw Erica K in your first river shot. I swim with her often.
I've loved the swims I've had with Spartans on Tour, such fun and great food sharing too (looking forward to more post-lockdown)! 🏊😃
This is ace! I'm a longtime wild swimmer (who's done much more last year than normal) and have always in the past been a big sharer of swim spots and been dismissive of people being secretive- I think I always thought there was a bit of snobbery in it. But this makes perfect sense, thank you for a really insightful video!
I'm with you on the sharing front, but have come round to thinking that I cna easily and freely share some, whilst the more remote (and tenuous) ones I keep to myself and only share in person 🏊😃
I love it that you’ve broached this subject, Rachel. 👏👏👏👏
I think it is easy to think that outdoor swimming is a bit of a closed shop at the moment, with 'don't start until the water warms up', 'we can't say where the swim spots are during lockdown', 'group closed to new memebers in the current situation' so I wanted to point out that these statements are all from a point of (perhaps misguided) concern and to not take it personally. With a bit of research and some pertinent questions, the swim spots reveal themselves 🏊😃
@@EverydayAthleteRach absolutely. Well said. ❤️ 🙏
Thank you, you explained this so well.
I’m very lucky that I’ve been welcomed into a wonderful group of people locally and it’s such a treat to share some of our favourite spots with new people too.
There is nowhere safe that is local enough where we are at the moment so I’m enjoying a few of your swim videos in a tub in the garden for now 😄
Sounds like you have alovely group, that hopefully you'll be able to get out and swim with in the not too distant future. You are braver than me getting in a tub, that must take some steely determination! Here's to getting out and about in lovely safe swim spots again soon. Hang on in there 🏊😃
Well timed! I would also add that another reason (linked to the access issues) is that all kinds of people can join those groups including those who don't necessarily support extending access rights to bodies of water whose current ('scuse the pun) recreational uses don't include swimming!
That's an interesting thought, about the infiltrators getting the inside scoop from the group! Do you imagine there are many that do that?
@@EverydayAthleteRach many? Not necessarily, but our local group has had one, and we've since found out this person has gone as far as contacting individuals to get info - we're having lay lower than usual! Sad really but sign if the times I guess - we'll creep back to that particular swimspot eventually though!
@@sarahgiles7542 that’s the spirit 🏊♀️😀
Oh, forgot how much l like your up beat and friendly support of this crazy cold water swimming l have been doing. Snow happening and cold winds so have stayed out. But maybe above freezing today. You almost make me want to go back to fb, but just almost 😅
Only almost...? You'll be in again soon. Thanks for the lovely comment 🏊😃
Social media can be useful to learn about your area but as you say doing your own research is a good idea. Keep up with your excellent content 😊
Very true! I like to take a hint of and area then figure it out for myslef, in the same way I like the game www.geoguessr.com/ good job the free version is limited to 5 goes every 24 hours, I'd looks whole weeks to it otherwise.
Great video! Now I'm chuckling because a few weeks back, I asked you where you were swimming out of sheer curiosity! 😂It makes good sense though! 😀
Haha! I do tend to say where I'm swimming if it is not sensitive, like a public beach, or somewhere well know for swimming. 🏊😃
I’ve been doing this for 2 months and I’ve already recognised the joyous feeling of being the only swimmer at a location.
So glad you mentioned the DIY method, nothing feels as personal as a venue that you’ve put the effort into finding yourself.
Wonderful! It's a lovely feeling of being part of the world, but observing at the same time. Finding your own swim spot is particularly rewarding too. Enjoy!
Thanks for another very informative and interesting video. Although I've only just subscribed, I've been watching your videos all through this winter and have tried out several of your suggestions (drying neoprene socks and gloves for example). It's my first winter of open water swimming, but I've been swimming in lakes, rivers and of course the sea for years in summer.
So I really enjoyed your video about seeking adventures close to home while we are unable to travel anywhere.
At the moment I'm stuck with cold showers because everything is frozen and that makes access at usual swim spots too dangerous. But in the meantime I'm researching potential new swim spots to try out once it gets little warmer.
Are you enjoying the research side of things? I find it often leads to some lovely walks and being off the beaten track. I hope it warms up enough soon for you to get back into the swim of things. Thanks for watching 🏊😃
@@EverydayAthleteRach Yes, I enjoy them very much because of the lovely walks and that feeling of roaming that I've enjoyed since childhood. By the end of this week swimming should be possible again. Looking forward to today's video.
It's totally understandable now that I heard you explaining it. Your channel is amazing, we both really enjoy watching your videos! You're welcome over on our platform as well!
Thank you so much! I'm pleased you're enjoying the content. I'll hope over and get a look at your content too 🏊😃
Hi I can’t see one but have you done a how to put on a back zipped wetsuit - particularly during lockdown when weight has gone up and ability to ask for assistance has reduced. Thanks ever so
Hi Alison, there's this one: how to put on a wetsuit th-cam.com/video/uiEG_rQTnAM/w-d-xo.html
In these times of no-touching, moral support only, I'd recommend putting it on at home and eliciting the help fo someone there, or perhaps more yoga! 🏊😃
@@EverydayAthleteRach thank you
My local (illegal) swim spot had large groups of young people even bringing a powerboat that they didn't know how to use. I'm scared someone will die there and the owners will fence it off
Oh no, that sounds terrible. I hope things don't get too hectic this coming summer 🏊😃
Don’t blame you. In this country is so populated as it is it is nice to have some place you call your own special place
Having been swimming from my local river spot for ten years the only trace was an absence of litter as we collected it. A lockdown group turned up and within a week they cut steps into the bank, put paving slabs in the water and piled a post into the bank and attached a rope. Disappointing
Blimey, that's some ridiculous liberties being taken. It's almost as though people think they are the first there or the only ones to enjoy a spot - and then set about 'making it theirs'. Sad.
I know were you are coming from stealing someone else's thunder is not nice
Definetly not. Go forth and discover is my preferred method. I love pouring over an OS map to see what the possibilities are. I hope you are keeping well 🏊😃