Now BBC Alba gets in to wild swimming

Following Mid Argyll Tri and Cycle Club’s recent invitation to join it in its season of open water swimming, Gaelic television channel, BBC Aba is airing a documentary on the subject: Trusadh – Wild Swimming.

The attraction of swimming in the wild is growing fast.

More and more people are shunning the bright lights, tiled floor and chemicals of the local swimming pool to swim in the clear, refreshing and often freezing natural waters of the lochs, rivers and seas of Scotland.

This is great for health and well-being. It may be just plain crazy. It is certainly thrilling – to watch as well as to do.

In a word to the wise and the unwise, dont get fired up by the challenge and go off on your own. Swimming pools may be chlorine or ozone-laden environments but they are relatively safe for the inexperienced.

The best possible way to get in to open water and wild swimming is to take up the Mid Argyll club;s offer – or to get in touch with a sumilar club elsewhere in Argyll or wherever you live.

They check out swim locations in advance for things like ease of entry and exit, underwater objects, currents and prevailing temperatures. They count you out and they count you in. They operate a buddy system, so you swim in pairs and look out for each other. They put people of similar experience, strengths and interests together. Some like to stop for a chat from time to time where others like a strenuous workout.  They advise wetsuits. They know what they’re doing.

So watch Trusadh: Wild Swimming, as we’ll be doing – on BBC Alba on Monday 22nd March 2010 at 9.00pm – but do the business with a club.

Now for the details of the Trusadh: Wild Swimming programme

Diving into freezing cold water on a regular, sometimes daily basis might seem a crazy pursuit to most of us. However, for a growing number of people taking a dip outdoors, often in stunning natural surroundings, has become a way of life.

A beautifully filmed new documentary in the Trusadh series on BBC ALBA charts the rise of ‘wild swimming’ and features the intriguing outdoor sport taking place in some of Scotland’s most scenic rivers, waterfalls, lochs and seas.

The Outdoor Swimming Society (OSS) was founded by Kate Rew in 2006 to promote wild swimming, which she felt was in danger of decline due to health and safety fears and concerns over dirty water. The OSS website suggests bathing sites as well as outlining training tips and safety advice.

Kate said: “There’s an aliveness and a softness to fresh water that you don’t get in a chlorinated pool. It’s such a free spirited and natural thing that once you have done it you just can’t understand why you would ever visit a pool.”

The programme also offers an insight into what entices those to participate in ‘wild swimming’.

Dan Martin from Peterborough trains in Loch Ness as he prepares for his forthcoming global triathlon, commencing 8 May. Dan will aim to become the first non-assisted person ever to swim across the Atlantic Ocean, a staggering 3500 mile epic swim, with no flippers, snorkel, wetsuit or shark cage.

Dan said: “It’s a tough trip but the tougher the trip the more you’re going to enjoy it. I’m not doing it for personal fame reasons. If I can prove that a relatively heavily injured, chubby guy from Peterborough can even think about it or attempt it, then I think a lot of people can get off their backsides and stop talking about it and do it.

“I have days when I’m pretty confident but I wouldn’t do a trip if I knew I could do it. If it was something that was relatively achievable then there would be no challenge and that’s the point of the trip and making it. It would take a lot to stop now.”

Also featuring in the programme is wild swimming enthusiast, Sean MacLeod, a student at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. Sean said: “You get such an adrenaline rush when you jump into the sea, similar to playing a major game of football.”

Sean believes the invigorating nature of the exercise helps him sleep. He adds: “The swimming pool is boring. You can’t dive in and do flips.”

Artist Julie Brook, who lives on the Isle of Skye, takes her young children wild swimming, often going to the beautiful Faerie Pools, near Glen Brittle on Skye. Julie said: “It’s good for our health but that’s not the only reason we do it. The children become familiar with the natural environment and after swimming you feel so clean and full of life.”

Isle of Lewis resident Sean O’ Drisceoil, has been wild swimming every day since 1992. He says: “I’ve come across sharks, dolphins and dangerous fish. I saw two sharks once and came up out of the water quite quickly.”

Sophia Dale, a musician living in North Uist, was brought up swimming in the sea in Australia, but admits her regular dips in the Atlantic are quite different. “Some friends have said: ‘You’re a crazy fool, what are you doing?’ Other friends have said: ‘You’re a real mermaid,’” she laughs.

The programme outlines the thrills of wild swimming whilst urging those who participate to act responsibly during such activity.

Produced by MacTV for BBC ALBA, ‘Toirmisgte: Wild Swimmers’ will be broadcast on Monday 22 March at 9pm.

The top photograph shows Dan Martin from Peterborough training in Loch Ness. The photograph above shows Sophia Dale, living in North Uist.

BBC ALBA is available on Sky channel 168, Freesat channel 110 and live on BBC iplayer.