Outdoor Swimming Society
Encyclopedia
The Outdoor Swimming Society (OSS) 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.
The OSS is the main resource on wild swimming locations and wild swimming safety in the country. It acts as an open-to-all central resource for wild swimmers, especially those based in the UK, and aims to encourage people to rediscover the joys of swimming in open, wild water - rivers, lakes, lochs, tarns, ponds, seas.
The OSS is engaged in campaigning to keep outdoor lidos and pools open, and to keep seas and rivers clean and swimmable.
and the author Robert Macfarlane
.
, to encourage safe swimming in wild water.
Member events are generally organised through the OSS Facebook Group (see external links below). Here members frequently arrange events all over the country.
Kate is a writer and freelance journalist and founded The Outdoor Swimming Society in 2006. She grew up swimming in a river in Devon, and continues to swim all over the country. Her book Wild Swim contains 300 great outdoor swims around Britain.
Read Kate's Best of Times, Worst of Times, in The Times or listen to Wilderness journeys on BBC Radio 4.
Kate has also featured in TV and media documentaries, including an episode of the popular BBC programme 'Coast'
Kate's Publications
OSS links
Useful information on outdoor swimming
Other Links
Kate Rew
Kate Rew is a journalist and author who founded the Outdoor Swimming Society. Her bestselling book, "Wild Swim", helped further the recent growth in popularity of wild swimming.-Early life:...
, author of Wild Swim.
As a 4,000 member-strong organisation, it is the biggest umbrella representation of wild swimmers in the UK.
The OSS is the main resource on wild swimming locations and wild swimming safety in the country. It acts as an open-to-all central resource for wild swimmers, especially those based in the UK, and aims to encourage people to rediscover the joys of swimming in open, wild water - rivers, lakes, lochs, tarns, ponds, seas.
The OSS is engaged in campaigning to keep outdoor lidos and pools open, and to keep seas and rivers clean and swimmable.
Patrons
The OSS' patrons are Olympic gold medallist Cassie PattenCassie Patten
Cassandra Lily Patten is a British freestyle swimmer.-Early life:Cassie's first swimming club was Bodmin and District in Cornwall where she trained under the coaches Phil Goldman and Joe Dixon, she then attended Plymouth College as a swimming scholar from the age of 11 to 18 where she was the...
and the author Robert Macfarlane
Robert Macfarlane
Robert Macfarlane, , is a British travel writer and literary critic. Educated at Nottingham High School, Pembroke College, Cambridge and Magdalen College, Oxford, he is currently a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and teaches in the Faculty of English at Cambridge.-Books:Macfarlane's first...
.
Manifesto
The Outdoor Swimming Society believes that it's time British swimmers had more fun. In the early 1900s there were river swimming clubs and lidos all over the country, but outdoor swimming died out as indoor pools came in. It supports all those keeping lidos open and lakes and rivers clean and undertakes campaigning work with this.Swim map
The OSS website hosts one of the most comprehensive databases of wild swims in the UK, with locations and descriptions of safe wild swimming locations.Safety
In 2009, the OSS announced that it was founding a Wild Swimmers' Code, similar in spirit to The Country CodeThe Country Code
The Country Code, The Countryside Code and The Scottish Outdoor Access Code are sets of rules for visitors to rural, and especially agricultural, regions of the United Kingdom...
, to encourage safe swimming in wild water.
Events
Outdoor Swimming Society members arrange regular meet-ups around the country, as well as a Midsummer Party and December Dip - both of which are held at Parliament Hill Lido, London. Masterclasses with swim coaches are also held round the country.Member events are generally organised through the OSS Facebook Group (see external links below). Here members frequently arrange events all over the country.
History
In 2006/7 the OSS ran the Breaststrokes charity swims in Windermere and Serpentine, which raised over £150,000 for Cancer Research.Profiles
Kate Rew: FounderKate is a writer and freelance journalist and founded The Outdoor Swimming Society in 2006. She grew up swimming in a river in Devon, and continues to swim all over the country. Her book Wild Swim contains 300 great outdoor swims around Britain.
Read Kate's Best of Times, Worst of Times, in The Times or listen to Wilderness journeys on BBC Radio 4.
Kate has also featured in TV and media documentaries, including an episode of the popular BBC programme 'Coast'
External links
At the time of its release, Wild Swim received many favourable reviews in the national press (links taken from Guardian website)Kate's Publications
- Best of Times, Worst of Times - The Sunday Times, 28th September 2008
- Wilderness journeys, BBC Radio 4
- Come on in, the water's lovely - The Guardian, May 24th 2008
- Call of the Wild - Coast magazine, July 16th 2008
- Wet and Wild - Guardian Travel, June 22nd 2008
OSS links
Useful information on outdoor swimming
- Top 50 places to swim outdoors - Daily Telegraph, 9th August 2008
- This Is London Follow The Rules To Enjoy Wild Swimming
- http://www.savebroomhillpool.org Broomhill Pool, IpswichBroomhill Pool, IpswichBroomhill Pool is a Grade II listed lido on Sherrington Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, England.-Status:Broomhill Pool opened on April 30th 1938 and closed in the autumn of 2002...
Other Links
- Kate's page, Conville and WalshConville and WalshConville & Walsh Ltd is a literary agency founded by Patrick Walsh and Clare Conville in 2000, and based in Soho, London. The agency numbers six book agents in a staff of eleven.Conville and Walsh is a full member of the Association of Authors' Agents....
literary agents