Description
Book SynopsisWhy do so many of us step into the water? Compiled and edited by Rachel Jones, Toes in the Water explores the life-affirming and healing power of wild swimming. With insights from a wide range of swimmers, the book explores the community around wild swimming, interwoven with the mental and physical health benefits which swimmers gain from it. The featured swimmers share the connection they feel with the natural world, and how this can lead to a positive impact on the environment around them. Packed full of inspiring stories, Toes in the Water is a book that could change your life.
The featured swimmers include open-water coach and year-round outdoor swimmer Ella Foote, who describes how the swimming community has supported her and given her skills and confidence in the outdoors; meanwhile, Beth Pearson, co-director of the Outdoor Swimming Society, explains the motivation behind and evolution of creating a wild swimming community. Also, Yorkshire-based wild swimming guide Les Peebles reflects on how healing he finds being in the water and how much joy he finds in helping others to discover wild swimming; and Lindsey Cole, mermaid, adventurer and environmental campaigner, explains how she raises awareness of river pollution through storytelling and activism.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- COMMUNITY
- Anna Deacon: A sense of belonging
- Johnny Hartnell: Wheelie bins and swimventures
- Beth Pearson: The OSS community
- Ella Foote: Strength from strangers
- CP Robinson: The coast is queer
- Pauline Barker: The Polar Bear Challenge
- Wendy, Lisa and Julia: Hampshire Open Water Swimmers
- Colin Hill: The antisocial swimmer
- Louise Owen: Friends old and new
- Simon Harmer: The benefits of an outdoor swimming community
- Katie Richards: Cold-water connection
- Deb Phillips: Channel swimming
- Stefan Hargrave: See you next week
- Sara Barnes: The ghosts of Cow Pool
- ENVIRONMENT
- Alice Kloker: River bed
- Sarah Shreeve: Sewage in our seas
- Chris Thomas: 365 Sea Swim Challenge
- Lindsey Cole: The mermaid, the otter and the big poo
- Emma Harper aka Mischief the Mermaid: Aiming for an ideal – the ghost hunt
- Susanne Masters: Tastes of water
- MENTAL HEALTH
- Catherine White: Waves of freedom
- Beth French: The glacier
- Dr Heather Massey: My life through outdoor swimming
- Jo Clement: Rhythm of the ocean
- Les Peebles: Helping others discover wild swimming
- Kate Steels: The Ice Sevens
- Mikayla Guidera: Freezbrury
- Kathleen Wotton: The sea saved me
- Loretta Cox: Discovering open-water swimming
- Sarah Kennedy Norquoy: Swimming to reset
- Rachel Ashe: Trying to fit
- Contributors
- About the editor
