SwimOut

Amy Ennion and Vicki explore training for the big swim. They discuss their approaches to training and talk to Shannon House Keegan who works with people remotely. Vicki goes to meet Ray Gibbs who films you in his tank Swim Canary Wharf. Amy discusses training camps with Anna McCarthy, a regular at the infamous Irish swim camps and Mandy Bodemeaid from Dover Channel Training tells us all about their training weekends. Plus we hear from Mark Sheridan about a pool based group which provides support and inspiration and Jonathan Cowie tells us about his struggles with his sofa.

This season has seen a bumper crop of swimming records, so Vicki and Amy have sought out the record-breakers. We have Andy Donaldson who swam all seven of the Seven Oceans in just one year and Sophie Etheridge chats with Jackie Cobell having taken her Longest English Channel Swim mantle away. Jasmine Harrison, who has two Guinness world records, talks about her adventures. We grab a chat with Anshuman Jhingran, the "Little Boy from Mumbai", who snapped up two records in his first year of marathon swimming and we join it all up with Julian Critchlow who gathers in all the English Channel facts and is himself a record holder. It's going to be a smashing episode.

Mikey and Vicki bring you a cornucopia of tales about Mercedes Gleitze, the first British woman to swim the English Channel. With a dramatized section and interviews with her grandson Andrew Pember and bathing historian Anna Maria Mullally the program celebrates this iconic swimmer. We also find out all about the “Swimming a Long Way Together” project, a tribute to Mercedes created by Vanessa Daws. We bring Mercedes' story to life and delve deeper into who she was and the legacy she has left.

In this episode Vicki meets Chloe McCardel who is the Queen of the Channel - she has swum the English Channel forty four times which is more times than any other person. Also she holds the record for the longest ever sea swim at 124.4 kilometers, taking 41 hours in the Bahamas. She is swimming royalty but also a passionate supporter of Women's rights, always ready to call out injustice.  

Vicki spends a day with Chloe in Weymouth finding out about her swimming, her past and what she is up to in Dorset this summer with her new boat Channel Queen.

In this edition of the SwimOut podcast we explore the challenge of swimming in cold water.

Join Vicki and Jonathan as they talk about thier swimming exploits in Morocco and Cheltenham. Vicki talks to Ger Kennedy about swimming in Antarctica and how it feels to be in water that cold and how to recover. Plus Jonty Warneken and Michelle Lane talk about competing in Team Ice GB.

In this edition of the SwimOut podcast we explore the people behind the big swim, the unsung heroes of open water who enable swimmers to undertake their amazing feats.

Join Vicki Carter and Jonathan Cowie as they chat to Padraig Mallon - North Channel Pilot from Infinity Channel swimming, Ros Bailey partner of Hells Mouth Swimmer Frank Chalmers and Elaine Howley who likes to give back to the open water community and crewed for Sarah Thomas on her 4 way crossing. Plus listener and all round amazing swimmer Jaimie Monahan tells us where she likes to swim as does Fiona McDonald, previous presenter of SwimOut.

Our latest offering is a very special edition of SwimOut all about Peace. We welcome new presenter Jonathan Cowie from Outdoor Swimmer magazine spreading his podcasting wings for the first time. We are joined by the legendary swimmer and writer Lynne Cox. She first rose to fame when she broke the English Channel record aged 15, and went on to break many more. Her mission to broker peace between Russia and the USA by swimming the Bering Strait in 1987 remains a groundbreaking achievement. Still actively engaged with swimming she has just published a book about swimming with dogs as well as setting up a swim in April to help the people of Ukraine. We also discuss Ukraine and peace with the ever passionate Jackie Cobell who is raising money to help Ukrainians. And Vicki and Jonathan share their favourite swim spots.

In the final episode of this series Hunter and Vicki are joined by the founder of WOWSA, Steven Munatones, and Gareth Jones who recently completed an EPIC 60 kilometre swim over Wales' wildest water. We're also joined by the the legendary Jackie Cobell who has the impressive (if undesirable) accolade of the longest ever channel swim. Plus, we catchup with our favourite fan Rick Cipolla. 

This month Hunter is joined by guest presenter Omie Dale to discuss access and inclusion in aquatics. 

We hear from bathing historian George Townsend about sociological barriers, such as gender and race, in the 19th century. Omie talks to the founder of Swimunity, whose mission is to make the joy of swimming accessible to all communities following the Grenfell Tower disaster. And Vicki has a special report on the state of disability in open water aquatics. 

Hunter and Vicki delve into The Mind. The mind can be your best friend and your worst enemy on a long swim. It can soothe and wash away your troubles; it can also disrupt and ruin your flow.

In this episode we meet Cliff Golding; after 5 years and 6 failed attempts Cliff finally tamed his demons and successfully crossed the English Channel - he tells us his secret. Sarah Kennedy Norquoy lives in the Orkney isles and tells us how swimming helped her recover from grief and we catch up with Mental Health Swims about raising mental health awareness. Last but not least, we speak to two Paralympian's about their mental health journeys in the lead-up to Tokyo.

Vicki and Mikey explore Journeys. We hear from Cath Pendleton, who holds the Guinness World Record for the Most Southerly Ice Swim (female) in Antarctica, but she also likes Mermaiding and chitty chatting.  Mikey leaps out of his sound booth to present this week and speaks to Sal Minty-Gravett, the oldest woman to do a 2-way English Channel swim. John Coningham-Rolls from SwimQuest tells us all about his passion for empowering people to start their swimming journey and stop punching below their weight. We all did a Pier to Pier swim and Hunter pops in to tell his story. Finally Vicki wants to follow her father down the River Avon on a very special Journey.

Hunter and Vicki explore how open water swimming can help with your Wellness.

We cast our net far and near. Finding happy swimmers donning Burkinis in Sydney and wetsuits in Lake Geneva. We also visit top London swim spots at Hampstead and the Serpentine. We talk to the man who made the film The Ponds about the Hampstead Ponds and we sit on the Heath to discuss the impact Channel swimming has had on our Wellness. We hope that it makes you happy too.

Hunter and Vicki seek out inspiring stories. We hear about Channel firsts - the first black man and the first woman. Hunter tells us about his fascination with Captain Webb and we hear from an expert on bathing who tells us about the Swimming Professor. Anna reveals all about the history of the swimsuit and we also have poetry, tales of old and love across the waves.

Great tales of derring do.

Vicki and Hunter go in search of Adventure in the open water. Hunter meets a Wild Brother and the Crocodile Dundee of Northumberland. Vicki talks to the second person to have completed the Oceans’s Seven challenge. We reveal our top fan and an adventurous way to celebrate your 70th birthday. Dan the coach gives tips on sea swimming and chasing those elusive buoys.

Inspiring stories to keep you buoyant through the autumn.

This month Vicki and Hunter are joined by Chas Hamilton with a story about a charity which helps prevent drowning in Cambodia, which is the leading cause of childhood death in that country.  An RNLI beach lifeguard shares some tips on how to stay safe on the beach and answers some questions about what to do if you get into trouble. We also tell the amazing story of Guðlaugur Friðþórsson an Icelandic fisherman who survived after his trawler capsizes, with extracts taken from the book "Why I Swim" by Bonnie Tsui. Plus Mikey Tees shares the story of a very special relay swim across the English Channel.   

This month Vicki and Hunter go in search of the limits of obsession. Vicki met the man who has swam the English Channel 34 times and who's next swim will be his greatest physical and mental test yet. Meanwhile Hunter caught up with an adventurer about his legendary swim over the UK's most treacherous waters, a place which has been nicknamed "Hell's Mouth". We also hear from a stand-up comedienne and the UK's preeminent marathon swimmer who's also happens to be an expert in hypothermia.

This one's a real corker!

As temperatures soar and the coronavirus grip loosens in some places, Vicki and Hunter are leaping back into the deep. 

This episode we’re talking to a World Champion open water swimmer, Keri-Anne Payne, about the future of the sport as well as the insatiable journalist, filmmaker and Ambassador for the Outdoor Swimming Society, Calum Maclean about breaking out of lockdown!

We also have some top open water swimming tips from the one and only Dan Bullock of Swim for Tri and we’re listening in to your stories from around the globe.

Introducing Episode 1 of the SwimOut Podcast with Hunter and Vicki!

In our debut episode we spoke to SARAH THOMAS whose 4-way crossing in 2019 amazed us all, as well as the veteran English Channel coach

FREDA STREETER who's not only trained hundreds of Channel swimmers but is of course mother to Alison Streeter - Queen of the Channel.