Swim Club Summer: Round Up Edition

Bobbing Along #8

Now I'm certainly not saying summer is over — far from it (summer is a state of mind anyway) — but our London swim club has had it's last official social swim of the summer season. As always, it was a banger.

We also had a lovely late-summer evening at the Night at the Res, which was wonderfully put on by the West Reservoir. My hair and clothes still smell of campfire which is always a good sign.

Late-summer swim club vibes. The Night at the Res (London's West Reservoir Centre).

This doesn't mean we've got nothing planned for our London social swimmers in September. Our (now famous) Social Sauna Evenings return in a couple of weeks across two mid-week dates in North and South London:

• Wednesday, 17 September @ Hackney Wick Community Sauna — We are doing the 20:00 to 21:30 Peak 90min Sauna slot. You can book in here if you would like to join (just make sure you select the right date).

• Wednesday, 24 September @ Camberwell Community Sauna — We are doing the 19:45 to 20:45 Peak 1h Sauna slot. Book here if you would like to join (again, make sure you've got the right date selected!).

Top 3 Swim Club Summer Highlights

I'm quite enjoying preparing arbitrary lists at the moment. I published a post earlier in the summer ranking the Top 5 Surf Beaches in Cornwall and Devon which provoked some almighty controversy on TikTok (fans of Croyde couldn't seem to contain their outrage).

Who knows maybe this list will generate similar dismay:

#1. Peak-Spring May Social Swims

Our two social swims in May were incredible and memorable for so many reasons.

For one, they were the first swims we had after our swim club popped off on socials, with around 4-5x as many people in attendance as we had been getting over the winter.

My initial concerns about whether the ✨ swim club vibes ✨ would be as good with such a big group were immediately quashed. Everyone who came down seemed to get it straight off the bat, which set a really nice bassline for the rest of the summer. 

The weather was also banging. And we still had the grass to sunbathe on at the West Res (RIP). All in all 10/10 and can't wait to do it again next year.

#2. Swim Club Takes on the River Itchen

In July we ran our first ever Wild Swimming Day Trip with the stellar folks at Goodrays — an event concept I had been working on for a while, and which turned out even better than I thought it would.

The day encapsulated exactly what I want this brand and our social swim club to be about — bringing people together through the shared enjoyment of the water, whether that's wild swimming, cold water dips, surfing, you name it.

We'll be doing plenty more side quests like this in the future, as I really want to push this concept of easy-to-reach-from-London day trip aqua activities. If you want to get involved just drop us a DM or sign up for our London swim club here.

(P.S. If you want to check out the glorious swim spot we visited with our swim club I've done a full write-up of the route here.)

#3. Every. Single. Swim Club Afters

Swim club afters has become a bit of an institution this summer and I for one am not at all mad about it.

Sure I've probably had a few more orange wines on a Sunday than is necessary, but if you can't enjoy a fresh vino in a sunny London pub garden after a swim then frankly when can you.

A big big thank you to The Brownswood — one of the few truly independent pubs left in London — for having us all through the summer. If you're ever desirous of a roast that is a) delicious and b) big enough to feed a small army then you should pay them a visit.

There are plenty of honourables I could also mention. The Lionesses pulling off a stunning victory in the Euros final during one of our swim club afters, or our May summer-opener social at Flat Iron Square — the list goes on.

But the real MVPs are all of you who came down for a swim or an event and made the whole summer such a good vibe, so THANK YOU.

So What's Next?

I'm not going to give too much away right now, but it would be a major understatement to say that I am exceptionally excited about what we have planned for the upcoming winter swim season.

This whole swim club thing started last September with a very simple concept — a cold water swim followed by coffee, pastries and a chit chat. As it turns out, that simple formula was a brilliant way to bring people together during the winter months when, as I'm sure we can all attest, it can be very easy to shut ourselves away.

So my mission this winter is to get as many people to give cold water swimming a try as possible. Not only does it feel great (read: mind-alteringly euphoric) but I believe it is a brilliant way to stay connected with nature and each other when things start to get a little dreary. 

Plenty more to be announced soon, so stay tuned.

Sax