Episode 5 – everyone has an interesting story RD005 - a podcast by Karen Parry outdoor swimming

I started this podcast knowing that, before I even went looking, I knew at least… hmm, let me count…at least 15 wild swimmers who had done things I found fascinating and wanted to know more about.

Of those only around 4 would be considered my friends. You know, real friends, not just folks you know on Facebook. People you make the effort to get together with and spend time with. The others were more acquaintances. People in the groups I swim with regularly or occasionally, who I know by sight and name, and have chatted to briefly.

So I was reasonably confident, that I could find plenty people to interview.

Start with my friends. Move on to people I know. Branch out into the unknown and see who I find.

Rhianne, who I talk to this week was a name I often saw pop up on the Fausto Bathing Club Facebook page. But we’d never met. And she is lovely! Her love of the coast and the sea just shines out of her. If you haven’t been to the beach recently, after listening to Rhianne you’ll want to go.

In trying to find people to interview, the thing that has struck me most is what a self-effacing bunch we are.

The most common response I get when I ask people to be on the podcast is ‘Who me? I’ve got nothing interesting to say.’

And yet I know that they have swum in freezing temperatures, or done their first outdoor mile event in the same year they learnt to swim, or set up a now thriving outdoor swimming group, or are training for a Channel relay swim, or have just completed their first full year skin swimming, or have done a dip a day for charity. Or something equally remarkable. The list is endless. Simply being involved in wild swimming makes them interesting. And yet they don’t think so.

Some of the people I’ve spoken to so far have told me that part of the attraction of wild swimming is that it’s not something that everyone is doing. It sets them apart somehow. As different. In a good way. And the people they meet doing it are also different. In that same, good way.

The quote “The challenge is to be yourself in a world that is trying to make you like everyone else.” is attributed to different people, but whichever wise soul said it first, it strikes me that wild swimming is a brilliant strategy for being yourself.

This week, a fellow wild swimmer told me that she’d had ‘a very intuitive day’. I just thought this was the most amazing way to describe your day. This led into a fascinating conversation about taking risks, trusting yourself and appreciating the change that follows. I can’t wait to interview her!

So I would urge all wild swimmers, who are reading this and listening to the podcast and thinking ‘I’ve got nothing interesting to say’ to reconsider.

Whatever it is that draws you to open water, pulls you in and releases you feeling re-set – that’s what you have to talk about. Your experience will be totally unique. And you should share that. People are interested.

To be interviewed for the podcast contact me – go on!



Places we mention

Roker, Whitburn, Fausto Coffee Shop, Low and High Force, Bamburgh, the Lakes, Scaling Dam, Turkey, Croatia,

Groups we mention

Fausto Bathing Club, British Triathlon

Kit we mention

Tri suit, neoprene ankle boots, tow float dry bag,



ITV Tyne Tees News report



           

Further episodes of Swim Wild Podcast

Further podcasts by Karen Parry outdoor swimming

Website of Karen Parry outdoor swimming