OPEN CHAMPION
Outdoors specialist finds growing following as numbers regularly swimming in lakes, rivers and seas double
Johnny Hartnell is pictured in the River Doe, at Ingleton, in North Yorkshire. He is a champion of open water swimming which is becoming increasingly popular. Mr Hartnell is gathering followers on social media as he shares images of his adventures.
ONCE DEEMED a rite of passage for any child in rural England, open water swimming has over recent years progressively become an enterprise of the urban elite.
There has been a huge boom in the number of outdoor city pools across the country, with a steep rise in the number of people taking up the sport in recent years.
But even when there are world-famous waterfalls and rivers in your own backyard, says the so-called ‘wild swimming
Yorkshireman’, it remains a ‘swim in t’beck’ after all.
“Water has a tremendous power,” says Johnny Hartnell, who is rapidly gathering followers on social media as he shares images of his adventures in the Yorkshire Dales.
“I can’t describe the magical pull of the water. Even just sitting by a river, or a lake, can make us feel better. There are big studies into mental health and water, and it really does work.
“We are just so lucky to have such fantastic bodies of water to play in here,” he adds. “When you’re in the water, looking at the sky, the world seems twice as big.”
The latest figures from Sport England, covering 2018, show more than 4.1 million people swam in the nation’s lakes, lochs, rivers and seas, with the number regularly swimming in wild waters nearly doubling in a year.
While it is classed as an outdoor activity, there are distinct warnings about the risks, and experts say only the most experienced should attempt it under lockdown, following strict rules and staying close to home.
For Mr Hartnell, born and raised in the Yorkshire Dales village of Ingleton, the River Greta winds its way down the bottom of his garden, supplied by the River Twiss and River Doe.
On a spring day, it can be as cool as tap water, he says, but never too cold to deter his daily dip. The coldest has been -1C, while the warmest waters in the Dales can reach 20C.
“I’m lucky, very lucky, that this is all in my backyard,” says Mr Hartnell, 51, an outdoors specialist at Inglesport in the village. “I spend my life in the rivers.
“It’s become fashionable now, has wild swimming,” he adds. “It was just ‘swimming in t’beck, when we were kids. “It’s a lovely pastime, and a lovely passion.”
So popular is the sport now
We are just so lucky to have such fantastic bodies of water to play in here.
Johnny Hartnell, of the Dales Dippers.