With depressing regularity, tragic deaths of swimmers continue to be reported during the summer months. These tend to be young people swimming in cold water in rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Recently in the Yorkshire area, three such drownings have been reported involving swimmers aged 13, 15 and 16. I have noted that in the spot…
Tag: Wild swimming
Winter Water Swimming
The tradition of swimmers dressed in a wide spectrum of regalia from Santa suits to nun habits wading into cold oceans, lakes and rivers shows no sign of abating here in the UK. In my hometown of Otley, West Yorkshire, the local newspaper (see link) estimated that nearly 100 swimmers, including me, braved the waters…
Ilkley Clean Water Campaign
While publicly-accessible indoor swimming facilities in the UK are on the decrease, outdoor or ‘wild’ swimming similarly is increasingly difficult to access and swimmers face a number of barriers. One local example is the Wharfe river which swimmers have historically used particularly on one section just outside of Ilkley. However, issues with the release of…
An Anthropology of Swimming 