Kate Rew is a journalist and author who founded the
Outdoor Swimming SocietyThe Outdoor Swimming Society was founded in 2006 by Kate Rew, author of Wild Swim.As a 4,000 member-strong organisation, it is the biggest umbrella representation of wild swimmers in the UK....
. Her bestselling book, "Wild Swim", helped further the recent growth in popularity of wild swimming.
Early life
She grew up on her family's dairy farm in
DevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, where she developed her love of wild swimming in the
River Culmthumb|Old stone bridge with pedestrian refuges over River Culm at Culmstock The River Culm flows through Devon, England. It rises in the Blackdown Hills at a spring - - near Culmhead and flows west through Hemyock, then Culmstock to Uffculme...
. She attended the
University of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
Career
Kate worked as a freelance journalist before founding the
Outdoor Swimming SocietyThe Outdoor Swimming Society was founded in 2006 by Kate Rew, author of Wild Swim.As a 4,000 member-strong organisation, it is the biggest umbrella representation of wild swimmers in the UK....
in 2006. Her bestselling book "Wild Swim" helped further the recent growth in popularity of wild swimming. She has also presented radio programmes on the subject.
Journalism
She has written for
The GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
,
The TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
,
Evening StandardThe Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
,
GraziaGrazia is an Italian weekly women's fashion and celebrity gossip magazine, with international editions printed in France, Serbia, Australia, United Kingdom, Greece, Portugal, Japan, the Netherlands, India, Bulgaria and Germany....
,
ELLEElle may refer to:*Elle, Central African Republic*Elle , a fashion publication*Ellé, a river in France*Elle , a female given name*Elle , a Sri Lankan game similar to baseball*Ælle of Sussex, a Saxon king...
and
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
.
Broadcasting
Kate has featured in several TV and radio documentaries, including an episode of the popular BBC programme Wilderness journeys on BBC Radio 4, The Diving Venus and
three episodes of
CoastCoast is a BBC documentary series first broadcast on BBC Two television in 2005. A second series started on 26 October 2006, a third in early 2007 and a fourth in mid-2009...
on
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV.
Public acclaim
The news and lifestyle periodical
MonocleMonocle is a lifestyle magazine and website founded by Tyler Brûlé, a Canadian journalist and entrepreneur. Described by CBC News reporter Harry Forestell as a "meeting between Foreign Policy and Vanity Fair", the magazine provides a globalist perspective on issues as fashion, international...
magazine named her as one of its 20 "heroes who deserve a bigger stage worldwide".
"Wild Swim" was chosen as book of the week by both the Mail on Sunday and
The IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
newspapers.