For the first in our new Open Water Conversations series, we caught up with Natasha from Wild Wellness to talk about her journey into outdoor swimming, the pull of the lake, swimming through the seasons, water quality and why becoming connected to the places we swim can make us want to protect them.
What first brought you to open water, and what keeps you coming back?
I've been a swimmer since I was very young. My first experience was in a very chlorinated, far-too-warm public pool where my Dad threw me in and I had to move my arms and legs frantically to stay afloat. I think I must have been around five years old. It's a very vivid memory!
Not the best introduction, but it was how my personal swim story started.
I quickly learnt the ropes and, with actual lessons — thanks Mum for intervening — I was able to master the strokes and discover that I fell in love with moving through water.
Open water was something I only came to as an adult. I was quite nervous and anxious at first about the idea of getting into a body of water I didn't know. What might be in there? How deep was it? And how would I know how to get out?
With time and experience, these were things I gradually overcame, and now I can't imagine a life without being in open water a few times a week.
What is it about swimming in a lake that makes the experience so different for you?
There is a kind of vastness and wonder I experience in a lake that reaches me in a different way to swimming anywhere else. A nature connection which is so special.
The sense that you are so small, and in many ways insignificant, swimming in a body of water that has existed for millennia gives you a certain kind of perspective on whatever problems or challenges you may be experiencing.
I feel free, strong and deeply connected to my body and my breath. And there is that feeling of being held by the water, which I find deeply comforting.
What do you notice people saying or feeling after they've been in the water?
Calmness. Reset. Uplifted. Peaceful.
These are words regularly shared by swimmers who come to the lake for coaching or for contrast therapy sessions, spending time between my pop-up sauna and the water.
They look different. There's a kind of lightness to their energy as they come out of the water.
I feel incredibly privileged to witness what time in and around the water can do for people.
How does your relationship with the water change through the seasons?
I think the best way to answer that is from my own personal lived experience.
In spring, the water is still incredibly cold. She teaches me that I cannot push through, that I need to know my limits and stay within them.
In summer, the lake dances in the sunshine, twinkling with reflections and opening up the opportunity for longer swims, evening swims under full moons, and time with friends to simply float. A different way to be.
In autumn, she starts to dip into those colder, sub-10-degree temperatures, easing us gently week on week as the leaves begin to fall and change colour. She changes, and in that transition prepares me for winter.
And finally, when those sub-10-degree swims arrive, and boy, do they hit differently.
Has spending more time swimming outdoors changed the way you think about the health and quality of our lakes and rivers?
Yes. Most definitely.
As someone who is regularly in the water, it was the SwimSense kit that transformed my experience. I can easily carry it in my bag and check the water before I swim. Having that additional information has given me more confidence to explore places around the lakes that I might not otherwise have tried.
Water quality is a huge topic and there isn't enough space here to cover it all, but I can say that as a wild swimmer it's a hugely important topic to me personally.
I regularly join events and campaigns around safer water and feel strongly that the more connected we become to the places we swim, the more we have to say about their protection.
Do you think becoming connected to a particular lake, river or body of water changes the way we think about protecting it?
I think it must do.
If you care about a space, a landscape, a body of water, you develop a particular kind of relationship with that place. The connection is more than physical. It's emotional and, for many people, spiritual too.
You feel that you must do what you can to respect it and protect it from harm.
Nature is wonderful, but we also have an important role as stewards, making sure these places are protected for the next generation to enjoy.
We are merely passing, or swimming, through it.
What do you think people most misunderstand about starting to swim outdoors?
That you need all kinds of fancy kit. You don't.
Yes, certain things can make the experience more comfortable, but if we strip away the ego and the wants, if you have a body and a swim outfit, you're good to go.
There is also a lot of fear around open water, much of which I think comes from what people see on social media or hear through other people's stories.
When you show someone what to do, how to approach the water and what they actually need, they can quickly begin to develop their own confidence to explore open water independently.
Of course, there are some universal principles for starting safely. Don't swim alone. Make yourself visible to other water users, for example with a brightly coloured swim hat and appropriate tow float.
Check your entry and exit points and, if you're entering from a drop rather than a shallow bank, make sure you understand the depth and know that you can get out safely.
Think about what happens after the swim too. Have warm clothes and a warm drink ready, and something to eat.
My personal choice is cake.
We turned the question around: Anita, what made you create SwimSense, and what have you learned from spending so much time thinking about what's happening beneath the surface?
SwimSense really came from wanting something I couldn't find for myself. I love being around open water, but I realised how little information we often have about what's actually happening in the water we're about to get into.
Laboratory testing absolutely has its place, but I wanted something simple that people could carry with them and use there and then to get a little more information before making their own decision about a swim.
The biggest thing I've learned is that water can look absolutely beautiful and still tell quite a different story when you start looking beneath the surface. Things like changes in ammonia, nitrates and nitrites can give us useful clues about what's happening around a waterway and encourage us to ask more questions.
For me, SwimSense isn't about making people frightened of open water — quite the opposite. It's about curiosity, connection and helping people understand the places they're swimming in a little better.
And I think the more we understand those places, the more likely we are to care about protecting them.
Finally Natasha, what would you most love to see change in the relationship between people, swimming and our waterways?
I'd love there to be more education in schools so that people grow up with a better understanding of how to be safe in and around water. It starts from a young age.
If we had this education embedded from the beginning, perhaps we'd have a better understanding of water safety and be able to prevent some of the needless deaths and drownings we continue to see, sadly often involving young men.
I'd also love more people to have the opportunity to meet others who want to dip, swimble, swim and simply spend time around water, and to experience the beautiful community that open-water swimming can create.
So many new friendships and conversations have opened up for me personally since discovering my love of swimming in the lake.
I think that sense of connection and community can be incredibly valuable for our mental wellbeing, particularly at a time when many people are experiencing disconnection and division.
Find out more
Wild Wellness is a nature-based wellbeing practice on Coniston Water, offering open water swimming, sauna and contrast therapy, community experiences and one-to-one nature-based coaching. Founded by Natasha Shuttleworth, it creates space to slow down, reconnect with nature and yourself.
