1001 Outdoor Swimming Tips: Environmental, safety, training and gear advice for cold-water, open-water and wild swimmers

Outdoor swimming tips for beginners and enthusiasts, offering practical, safety-minded guidance, gear, training, and on-water confidence

1001 Outdoor Swimming Tips by Calum Maclean is a light-hearted and informative guide to all kinds of outdoor and wild swimming.

This is no standard instruction manual – it is much more useful than that. This is a huge collection of small tips to make a real difference to your outdoor swimming, whether you’re planning your first forays into swimming outdoors or enjoy icy swims in the depths of winter – this book will take you through everything you need to know.

The vast range of topics covered includes everything from biosecurity and the safety of others to cold-water swimming, recovery, night swimming, swimming with children, the essential gear you’ll need, training and how to get that perfect underwater photo. Whether you’re a wild swimming novice or have plenty of experience in water, Calum’s entertaining and knowledgeable advice will inspire you and help to enrich your time in the water.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FEEDBACK AND UPDATES 1 BASICS [1–194] 25 REASONS WHY (OR WHAT TO TELL PEOPLE WHO JUST DON’T ‘GET IT’) WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW SWIMMER’S LIFE GENERAL SAFETY SAFETY OF OTHERS SWIMMING WITH CHILDREN THE NASTY STUFF (ILLNESSES) PLANNING WEATHER 2 THINGS TO CONSIDER [195–270] FEAR, ANXIETY AND DEEP WATER ANIMALS BIOSECURITY IS IT CLEAN? JUMPING 3 THE SWIMMER’S BODY [271–391] PIE? CAKE? HOT CHOCOLATE? … NUTRITION RECOVERY FOOD GETTING IN AND GETTING OUT RECOVERY MENSTRUAL CYCLE PREGNANCY MENOPAUSE 4 COLD-WATER SWIMMING [392–456] COLD WATER ICE SWIMMING 5 TECHNIQUE AND LONGER SWIMS [457–615] STROKE AND MORE SIGHTING COACHING AND GROUPS EVENTS MENTAL PREPARATION FOR EVENTS TRAINING SWIMRUN ADVENTURE AND SWIM-PACKING/SWIM-CAMPING THE THOUGHTS OF THE OUTDOOR SWIMMER 6 SWIMMING ENVIRONMENTS [616–775] WHERE CAN I SWIM? RIVERS WATERFALLS LOCH/LAKE/TARN/LLYN/MERE SEA SWIMMING QUARRIES RESERVOIRS URBAN SWIMMING SWIM VENUES SWIMMING TO ISLANDS DISCOVERING YOUR OWN SWIMS 7 GEAR [776–884] GENERAL WETSUITS EARPLUGS TOW FLOATS GOGGLES EXTRA GEAR 8 SOCIAL MEDIA AND PHOTOGRAPHY [885–962] SOCIAL MEDIA AND WRITING TAKING PHOTOS AND VIDEOS SELF-SHOOTING FILMING UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILMING 9 STUFF [963–1001] NIGHT SWIMMING SKINNY-DIPPING FIVE ICONIC WORLD SWIM EVENTS SEVEN ICONIC UK SWIMS AND EVENTS RECOMMENDED SWIM SPOTS 10 READING LIST

Calum Maclean is a writer, broadcaster and experienced outdoor swimmer. He swims year-round in all conditions, from cold-water dipping and competing in ice swimming races, to long-distance, open-water swims. He makes films for the BBC on this subject in both Gaelic and English, including his series for BBC ALBA, Dhan Uisge (Into the Water) and his much-loved films for BBC The Social. An ambassador for the Outdoor Swimming Society, Calum has also spoken at the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and is an award-winning filmmaker. He lives in Aberfeldy where his regular swimming spot is the River Tay.