The Average Person? As a responsible extreme cold water swimming promoting organisation, it’s frustrating that the IISA doesn’t seem to appreciate its responsibility in promoting safety and reducing risk. The three-article critique on the IISA rules comprehensively illustrate many of the inherent problems, omissions and contradictions. The concerns of my correspondents and myself with Ice…
I’ve said previously that open water swimming is dangerous. Ice Mile swimming is even more dangerous. I don’t think the IISA website, which is how most people are going to interact with and learn about the IISA or Ice Mile swimming, is anywhere near as comprehensive as it needs to be on its message about…
Ice Mile Dilemmas – IV – Local context. Ice Mile Dilemmas – V – IISA Rules Discussion Part 1. – Something Terrible Is Going To Happen. Ice Mile Dilemmas – VI – IISA Rules Discussion Part 2. – Safety and Experience. This is the third and last part of discussion of the IISA rules. Age Limit…
As you will recall from the previous article the IISA says one of its primary objectives is: Promoting Safety in Extreme Swimming Events. Let’s consider that. One overseas organiser of a reputable Ice Mile swim said: “We should be going above and beyond the IISA rule to make sure someone does not die from inexperience…
“I’m with you in fearing that something terrible is going to happen, and it’s going to happen soon”. This is a direct quote from a well-known and respected Ice Mile and Channel swimmer in response to my own similar assertion in my introductory email. I’m putting it up front so you understand exactly the concerns…
An Ice Mile is a one mile (1610 metres) swim at or under 5.0º Celsius with standard swim costume, cap and goggles. Records to early March 2014 indicate 116 recognised Ice Mile swims, with only about 80 Ice Mile swimmers worldwide. In the context of these small numbers this continuation of the earlier series can be interpreted,…
Part 1 Part 2 Ten minutes after briefing and the swimmers were lined up on Lough Dan’s so-called beach for the group photo seen in the previous part. Sometimes writing about the minutiae of swimming is really boring. Sometimes such reportage can mask some other truth. Sometimes I think that the more I try to…
Driving to Wicklow that morning, it never once occurred to us that the water temperature would be cold enough. I was absolutely fine with that. “Here’s anther stupid thing we are doing on yet another early morning“, may have been something Dee said. We passed over the Wicklow Gap pass, and there was no snow…
Sometime back in winter of 2010, Sandycove Island Channel swimmer and local legend Finbarr Hedderman and I discussed attempting an Ice Mile. At the time the International Ice Swimming Association was very new and less than a dozen people had joined its ranks, and half of those were the founders. For those unaware of the…
If open water swimming was as simple or simplistic as is sometimes portrayed I’d long have ceased writing. Olympic or professional open water swimmers who distil the skills associated with open water swimming to a mere “learn to sight, swim straight” have over-looked all the other skills they may have learned along the way. Similarly, amateur marathon…
There are better cold water swimmers than I. There are faster cold water swimmers than I. There are hardier cold water swimmers than I. There are more scientific cold water swimmers than I. There are more experienced cold water swimmers than I. There are people who love colder water more than I. There are even…
This indexing is for the site’s How To and similar articles, each getting a brief description. Irregularly updated with content from the blog articles. (Latest Update: January 2016). Swimming (General) How To: On Beginning Swimming for Health, Swimming Improvement or Weight Management. General guiding advice for those taking up swimming. How To understand and choose between the different…
Cold water swimming is difficult and requires repetition.These articles are intended to help swimmers adapt to cold water swimming. By exploring the many aspects of cold, environmental, physiological and psychological, I hope to help you understand cold and cold water swimming and therefore become a safer, better and more confident cold water swimmer. It is…
Some concepts or acts can be so fundamental to a communal activity that the members of that community can forget that they once may not have known of the concept, let alone the meaning as the activity becomes second nature. These acts, which we might call unconscious assumptions, are not ignored, but accepted, language grows…
LoneSwimmer is mostly about covering the positive aspects about swimming, or at least, of my swimming life, and imparting what I’ve learned in the hope of spreading the knowledge. But every swimmer, every person involved in any sport has things about their sport that they dislike or … maybe even hate… 1. Extreme Cold Water I…
As I have mentioned too many times previously, I started taking photographs to illustrate this blog. Over the course of a few years, my photography has become a creative pursuit in its own right, while still being used to capture what I sometimes think of as open water swimming life. Unable to finance any big swim, I had…
Welcome to the world’s most popular (non-commercial) open water swimming blog! Who? Me? The About page of almost any blog is the most egregious self-promotion outside of a first date or a job interview. I’d suggest you stop here and go back to the rest of the site as I find myself vaguely embarassed by this page.…
LoneSwimmer 