SUZANNA’S SWIMMING KIT LIST

Swimsuit/trunks

Wetsuit (optional / temperature-dependent) Goggles

Swimming cap

Thermal accessories if it’s cold (gloves and socks)

Tow float/dry bag

Changing robe/sports towel Whistle

Earplugs

OPTIONAL EXTRAS

Phone case/waterproof camera Waterproof roll-top bag Swimming shoes

For their parents’ generation, lessons were held in a lake. With no such things as wetsuits, they swam as quickly as they possibly could between the jetties until they were allowed to get out again.

On Windermere, a swimming club was situated at Millerground and Rayrigg Meadow. The changing huts still stand there now. Once the indoor pool opened in nearby Troutbeck Bridge during the postwar boom, lake swimming’s popularity waned and was actively discouraged as swimmers flocked to the modern facilities. This matched the trend for the rest of the country, with nearly 200 public pools being built between 1960 and 1970.

Today, however, the swimming pools at Keswick and Askham are the only public pools within the Lake District National Park boundary. Conversely, the popularity of wild swimming has soared in recent years, and it continues to rise.

MY FIRST FORAY

My love of the outdoors stems from many hours spent walking in the hills, enjoying the sheer simplicity of self-propelled progress over interesting terrain. Skills obtained in this area are transferable – interpreting a map or weather forecast, for example. Going for a walk is as easy as putting one foot in front of the other.

But making the transition from fully clothed on a lakeshore to full submersion is quite different. Dipping your toes into wild water is a step into the unknown. It forces you to leave the reliable gravitational pull of dry land and put your faith into something intangible.

It’s at this stage that for the first-time