IN FOCUS WILD SWIMMING
swim stash
head-to-toewildswimmingkittomaximisesafetyandcomfort
O’NEILLAQUASHOES
£21.95,wetcentre.co.uk
Rockyriverbedsandpebblebeaches
canbetoughonbarefeet.These
O’Neillshoesaremadefrom
neopreneandhaveatoughened
sole,makingiteasytogetinandout.ZONE3GLOVES
£25,zone3.com
It’softencoldhandsand
feetthatwillhaveyou
swimmingbacktoshorefirst.
Theseglovesaredesignedtomitigate
againstfrostnipinthosewintermonths.KINAMARATRUNKS
£18,kinamara.com
TheKinamarateamdesigns
swimwearinspiredbytheir
ownwildswimmingadventures
aroundtheworld.Thesetrunks
areespeciallycomfortableand
won’tleavesensitiveareas
feelingscrunched.NABAIJINEOPRENE
SWIMMINGCAP
£14.99,decathlon.co.uk
Whenthetemperaturedrops,adecent
hatisamust.Thisextra-thickneoprene
hatwillstopyourheadfromfeeling
thechill.ZOGGSPREDATOR
FLEX2.0
From£30,zoggs.com
Notallwildswimsrequiregoggles,
buttheyareahandyaddition.These
Zoggsareafirmfavouritewith
outdoorswimmers,withawidefield
ofvisionandaneasyfit.DRYROBE
From£110,dryrobe.com
Gettingwarm,dryanddressedafter
awildswimcanbeachallenge.Dry
Robe’swaterproofzip-uptowelsmake
thewholeprocessfareasier.Dip A Day December: a winter
swimming project that has seen her
swim in lakes, rivers and the sea
throughout the coldest time of the
year. It was only after she did the rst
of these in 2016, however, that she
realised she was putting all her energy
into the project, but not addressing the
reason why: her poor mental health.
Since then, she has used Dip A Day
December to raise money for mental
health charities, advocating the water’s
positive bene ts, and using it to be
more honest about how she’s feeling.
“Over the years it’s been lovely to say
that Dip A Day has been about the fact
that I don’t like that time of year and
it’s a tough time for me,” she says.
Dave Jordan has also found
peace in the water. A life coach and
counsellor who runs Active Minds
(activeminds.life), a business aimed at
helping people open up about their
mental health while spending time
outdoors, Jordan went through a
breakdown and realised that spending
time outside, especially swimming, was
helping him during a tough time.
“I was left to navigate my depression
myself,” he says. “I found it isolating.
You had to navigate who to see. If you
wanted a counsellor you weren’t in a t
state to nd one. It added more trauma
to the whole thing.” He says that once
he found the energy to get out, the sea
was where he headed.PhotoBen Cox