I Spent A Year Photographing Wild Swimmers In Scotland In All Weathers, Here Are 59 Of The Best Photos

Chris, 59, Web Developer: "Wild swimming brings me back into connection with myself, the natural world and the people I swim with. I feel joyful and alive!" Jane, 54, Community musician/wellbeing practitioner: "Wild swimming wakes me up and makes me feel truly alive and in the present moment. It connects me to the natural world, the ever-changing seasons and the phases of the moon It provides me with a wonderful group of fun-loving friends to explore various lochs, seas and rivers with. It helps me feel at ease in my body It has inspired me to write and to get engrossed in the design of vintage knitted swim suits."

“I have always loved to swim in the sea and lochs. Having a wet suit and joining the wild ones at Wardie Bay has just made it more accessible.
It is my absolutely favourite thing to do. I love the tingling sensation of cold skin, and the way that the sand almost feels like a heated blanket when you walk back to shore. I love that most people think wild swimming is somewhat crazy.
I’ve had amazing swims off Harris and in Loch Ewe where the visibility is amazing and the seaweed and sea life are beautiful. But my favourite was in Applecross on a sunny October day. The family and I had walked over a headland to a white sand beach. It was so beautiful that I couldn’t help myself. My three children, our dog and a nosy seal decided to join me. It was idyllic. We had to run around in our underwear afterwards trying to dry off as we hadn’t bought towels or swimming costumes."

“I have been swimming outdoors for as long as I remember as I grew up swimming in Scottish lochs and rivers in Dumfries & Galloway, then in the lakes of the Lake District with my father, who showed us the secret swimming places he used to go to as a boy when he was growing up around Carlisle in the 1940s. My junior school also had an outdoor (unheated!) swimming pool fed by loch water from the hills above so I always associate cold water swimming with those idyllic summer days. As an adult, I have often stripped off and jumped in rivers and lochs on hot days while hillwalking. Wild swimming in urban environments, and in winter, is something I had never considered but I was inspired to try it last year by Anna Deacon’s boundless enthusiasm and beautiful photos and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It has opened the door to me doing it all year round, and close to home, and that has been a revelation for me.

It clears my body and mind, and leaves me buzzing. Often this is a combination of the cold water and the company if doing a group swim, but I feel exhilarated and refreshed afterwards. I’m also very familiar with the physiological benefits of cold water immersion from a sports perspective, having played Touch Rugby for Scotland during the past decade, with post-match ice baths being a critical part of our daily schedule at multi-day tournaments to aid recovery, wherever we are in the world and regardless of the air temperature”

“I loved swimming in rivers and lochs as a child but always in the summer. It was reading ‘Leap In’ by Alexandra Heminsley that encouraged me to give it a go again. I discovered a group of friends who were swimming regularly at Portobello. The beach is less than 5 minutes from my house, so I had no excuse not to get involved. I like to push beyond my comfort zone, especially as I get older. I guess I’m determined not to slip in to comfortable middle age. I love the jolt of the cold water and how cleansing it feels, for mind and body. I’m always invigorated after a swim and of course the friendship and laughs with fellow swimmers is a big part of it, especially on days when you just don’t feel like it.
My best swim might just have been the swim when these photos were taken. The sunrise was astonishing and I felt so lucky to be there, in that moment.”

“I wouldn’t have stuck my toes into the sea until 3 years ago. I had just got back from a trip to the other side of the world, all inspired, and intended to live with the daily mantra “Do something every day that scares you.” My friend Zuzana inspired me at the time with her sea swimming and she took me for a swim in Portobello for a birthday treat, in September. I was immediately hooked and swam every day that first winter, always inviting new swimmers to come along with me.

Wild swimming is like meditation for me. I am not a person to sit still for a meditation. Sitting in an office chair most days I need movement. Going into the sea lets me forget all worries, fears and anxieties that I might encounter in body and mind, during the day. I makes me forget the time, it focusses me on myself, my breath, my human being. I feel humbled by the sea, and come out on top of the world, refocused, clear in mind, and pink in body. I have never done drugs, but imagine it’s better than any class A drug.

I take new people into the sea regularly, and tell them that we are so much stronger than we think. Our body craves extreme conditions. Humanity was born with bodies made to fight the elements, and to deal with hot and cold weathers. We all need to expose ourselves more to nature and the elements. It’s good for us in so many different ways. I also never regret swims. I am not a good swimmer: sea swimming is not about exercise to me. It’s about slowing down”

“I swam as a teenager but not too regularly until a few years ago. Lots of things went really badly wrong all at the same time in my personal life and I was looking for a way to manage my stress. Before that I was floating along, sort of directionless, and taking up swimming anchored me to something solid. It gave me a code to live by- one that forced me to take better care of myself.

I like the shock of the cold water and the way it reboots my brain. The colder and wilder the sea is, the better. It seems to flood me with feel-good chemicals and I love the ceremony of disrobing, jumping in and focusing on pushing forward in the water.

The social aspect also lays a part - finding a new spot with my friends and psyching ourselves up to jump on. It’s taught me lessons about what my body can cope with and how to watch out for the warning signs.

My favourite swim was with my cousin Harry, we swam off Harris last January. We kept getting knocked down by the force of the waves in waist height water. I’ve never experienced the raw power of nature like that. If you have the right kit on it’s warmer than the shore! It’s impossible to come out of the sea without a smile on your face.”