Woman’s Weekly Living Series – July 2019

‘It gave me the strength to keep going

Open-water swimming is

hugely popular and great

for your health. Four

women talk about why

they take the plunge...

Tides

‘No-one had even

heard of it!’

I

f a woman dived into a lake on a sunny day 100

years ago, she would have been arrested. It’s hard

to believe, but women were only granted equal

swimming access to men in the 1930s. These days,

outdoor and open-water swimming are more popular

with women than ever.

We may have a way to go before we achieve

gender equality on land, but in the water we can swim

as equals. This is mostly thanks to the ‘swimming

suffragettes’ who fought for our right to swim. We

also owe a little something to these four women, who

have each contributed in different ways.

Keri-anne Payne

is an Olympic

and marathon

open-water swimmer,

and coach

‘When I competed

in the 2008 Beijing

Olympics, no-one

had even heard

of open-water

swimming. But fast

forward to the

London Olympics

in 2012, 30,000

people were

in Hyde Park

watching! It’s

one of my

proudest moments

knowing I helped

people discover this sport.

As a coach, I value

swimming as an essential

life skill. I love helping

people learn to swim and

improve their style. I find

the women I coach can be

more fearless – historically

the men want to be quicker

so tend to go for the

shorter races. Women

tend to enjoy taking on

new challenges and upping

the distance.

I love the freedom of

swimming in open water.

Free of any body weight,

and free of mind. There’s

no lane line, roofs, chlorine

or a fast lane, so you can’t

help but feel less stressed!’

Alexandra Heminsley is a

broadcaster, sea-swimmer

and author of Leap In:

A Woman, Some Waves,

And The Will To Swim

‘Swimming in the sea

taught me to accept the

unexpected. When life was

throwing me challenges I’d

never anticipated, learning

to swim outdoors taught

me that you can’t be

sure what’s coming

next – but you

can teach yourself

the strength

and flexibility to

deal with it.

My main aim with

my book was to help other

women tackle those

fears about open-water

swimming, from putting

your face in the water to

accepting you can’t be sure

what’s in the sea with you.

Given that I started out as

the worst swimmer on my

course, and one who was

rigid and puce with terror,

I have tried to reassure

women that anyone can

find the courage to do it.

Water aside, one of the

biggest hurdles preventing

women from embracing

the joys of swimming

is body image. It

used to be the

pressure to cover

up – women were

literally drowning

in crinolines – but

now it’s the pressure

to reveal, to have a

perfect ‘beach body’.

My advice: put on a

swimming costume

Changing

love the

FReeDoM

tackle^

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