Episode Eight: Landlocked Lockdown. COVID-19

Covid-19 has brought group and organised swimming to a standstill, with a lot of people using outdoor swimming to maintain physical and mental health I wondered how this was impacting on the swimming community

In this episode I chat remotely to Jenny Waring who is a ex competitive outdoor swimmer, her love for the sea and lochs in Scotland means she is regularly out swimming with Fife Wild Swimmers. We chat about how lockdown has effected our swimming and Jenny's return to the NHS during the pandemic.

You will hear about her and I sharing feelings of guilt, overwhelm, loneliness, lac of indepedance and fears of consequences , confusion around guidelines. Trauma and grief and the anxiety that had arisen for us during this time.

This episode was recorded when the temperature rose and the RNLI issued a statement advising people not to swim for the safety of themselves and others. Swimming outside has not been banned but guidance from the government not to travel to swim or to put yourself at risk swimming alone, the polarity of opinion has caused some online heated debates leaving a lot of confusion and sadly sometimes social distancing shaming. Jenny and I talk through this and more.

The second half of this podcast you hear a choir wonderful voices from the group Jenny and I swim with, Fife Wild swimmers. How they are individually finding their own ways to cope or not to, without group outdoor swimming.