I was recently asked to recommend books on wild swimming to someone who was keen to get started. It’s not easy to do this, as there are so many books that it’s difficult to know where to start, and it all depends what you want from a book (though Roger Deakin’s Waterlog is my first choice!). Some ideas here.

Joys, benefits, risks of swimming outdoors, Myths, Top Tips to stay safe. By Fiona Weir, @thisfionaweir

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Outdoor Swimming Society members were invited as guests to the webinar of the Visitor Safety Group (landowner body), at the launch of its Open Water Swimming guidance 8 July 2021, and I was invited to speak about the Outdoor Swimmers Code and to chair a breakout room on landowners engaging with swimmers. This is the presentation I delivered.

Swimming outdoors, especially in cold water, being outdoors, and nature are good for you – for your mental and physical health. So say growing numbers of reports, books, articles, studies and organisations. This is a collection of links with brief descriptions (March 2021). And occasional updates and additions subsequently.

No. That is a simplistic and inaccurate myth, and is not really helpful. I think that there could be possible negative consequences, with a chilling effect, if you give the impression that it is ‘illegal’ to swim in 97% of rivers in England. Nick Hayes’ Book of Trespass and the Right to Roam campaign are brilliant contributions to campaigning for access to rivers for swimmers and paddlers. But the issue is more complex than that figure suggests, and I’ve only touched on it here, with links for further reading (including the book). I helped put together a piece for the Outdoor Swimming Society which focuses on encouraging swimmers to understand where they can swim – however clear or otherwise the legal position, and includes quotes from the OSS legal adviser: https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/the-3-percent-access-myth/