Betrayal Or Delusion? Choose Your Spring Swim Main Character

Bobbing Along #14

Spring cometh — a time of renewal, robins and that first crispy spring swim of the year.

I released our spring/summer social swim calendar last week, so go check it out if you haven't already. If you'd like to get involved with everything we are doing over the summer you can sign up to join our social swim club gc here (it's arguably London's most wholesome group chat).

Finally — and I don't want to give too much away — we did a very fun shoot over the weekend with a couple of our social swimmers (thank you Lucy & Tavy!!). If you've received this via email you'll see a few sneak preview pics at the end. But yeah, something is coming soon™.

Spring Swim Main Characters — The Definitive List

I am convinced that every single swim group, no matter how big or how small, has at least 2-3 of these archetypes.

Or, if you want to be more philosophical, maybe there's a bit of each of them within us all.

Either way here's my list of main characters you are guaranteed to encounter as we gently ease our way into the spring swim season. (2, 4 & 6 are all speaking to me, which I'm not sure is to my credit.)

1. The First-Timer

“Never again”

Convinced to come for their first-ever swim on the basis that “dw it’s actually warm now”, only to discover the water temp is still ~10 degrees. Betrayed, disillusioned and probably never coming again.

2. The Liability

(03:48) “IM COMING X”

The most dependable member of the group despite regularly showing up with a blood alcohol content > 0.05. Non-verbal until sometime around pastry number 2.

3. The Negotiator

“What does it feel like though?”

Knows the actual water temperature but rejects it in favour of a crowd-sourced, vibes-based assessment. Will accept any opinion which affirms their favoured hypothesis.

4. The Delusionist

“Guys it’s literally boiling”

Gets a single ray of sunshine on their face and starts rocking up in shorts and a t-shirt. First to ask if anyone has a spare layer.

5. The Purist

“Yeah I'll be back in November”

Driven purely by masochism — not content with anything less than full-blown hypothermia. Deeply suspicious of anyone who swims for “fun”.

6. The Instigator

“Bad day to be a glass of rosé am I right”

Treats the swim as nothing more than an opportunity to herd everyone into the nearest pub garden. Repeatedly shocked to discover that not everyone wants to drink five pints on a Sunday afternoon.

Upcoming London Swims & Events

Our last social swim of the winter season was a banger.

(If there are any other London social swim clubs you think should be included here please let me know.)

Swim Peeps (@swim_peeps)

• Social Swim @ West Reservoir Centre — Sunday, 5 April
• Social Swim @ West Reservoir Centre — Sunday, 19 April

Chilly Dippers (@chilly.dippers)

• Hips & Dips x Girly Dips x Battersea Social @ Brockwell Lido — Saturday, 11 April (buy tickets here)

Girly Dips (@girlydips)

• Feel Good Friday @ TBC — Friday, 24 April

Queer Swim (@queer.swim)

• Sauna Hat Workshop + Sauna x Sussex Sauna Hats — Saturday, 18 April (DM @queer.swim for ticket link)

That's all for now — hopefully see you on Sunday for our first social swim of the season.

Cheers,

Sax