a partial history of the aquatic ape

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20/10/2023 by Carl Reynolds

Clearing out my cupboards I decided to weed out the many swim hats I’ve collected over the years and reflect on the times I acquired some of them. They are not a full set, but they reflect the diversity of events, places and people I’ve met over the years.

The South London Swimming Club is based at Tooting Bec Lido. I joined them in 2008 and was quickly woven into a rambling community of artists, gyrovagues, activists, gym bunnies, runners, musicians and polymaths for a rollicking seven years of cold swims, cakes, saunas, music and wall-ball with the lads.. several times a week for a few hours a day! In 2013, I won the coveted Hat Competition at the Cold Water Swimming Championships with a large paper mache dragon that breathed red smoke.

It was while I was in London, that I went on a SwimTrek holiday (the first of many) to the Scilly Isles. I’d been helping Dan Start with a little on-the-ground research for his Wild Swim series of books and I promised him I’d explore the coast of Penwith in the few days I stayed in Penzance on the way back from the SwimTrek holiday. But that is a little beside the point.

On the sleeper train down to Penzance I met two other swimmers – one of them was Carl Richards… who during the week persuaded me to be his support for a Channel crossing. And one of the things we did together was go to the Inaugural Cork Distance Week in 2009. A week of nearly 100km of swimming in the wild seas off the coast of Kinsale in Co.Cork, hosted by the force of nature that is Ned Denison. I went back a couple of times more, partly because I got caught up in the madness of doing a Channel Crossing myself, but also just to have some craic and support others doing long distance swims.

For some people – me included – the obsession with swimming included an exploration of companies that run swimming holidays. I went on a few SwimTrek trips, a Strel Swimming holiday in Slovenia (both companies run fantastic trips), but the one I enjoyed the most was a weekend in Ynys Mon with Gone Swimming. Most of the swims were short jaunts in a range of wildest settings, but the real treat was the great food and chat.

in the early 2010s I met John Donaldson, a swimmer from Parliament Hill Lido who was organising the first Parliament Hill Ice Swimming Hootenanny. He’d come to me for some help in organising a gala at Parliament Hill. Why he asked me I have no idea, as the events at Tooting Bec Lido were organised and led by Margie Sullivan…I had but a peripheral part. But I wrote him a narrative of how a good event would be experienced by a participant and he used these notes to inform how he put the event together. Kate and I ran the reception for the first event and got people to sign up to a sweepstake on the number of participants out of the 125 entrants who would be wearing a DryRobe. Bear in mind this was a decade before they became a must-have item for swimmers and non-swimmers alike. The winner got half the pot and the pother half went to a Turtle Conservation NGO… because turtles eat jellyfish, and long distance swimmers meet many jellies. Around 80 of them had DryRobes, which in those days only came in black with a variety of linings.

Note – this hat does not represent a PHISH I went to (I recycled that a long time ago), but was given to me when we bumped into one of the new organisers, Jeremy, while he was down in Devon last year.

When I first fetched up in Brixham I was still in deep thrall to the cult of wild, cold and long distance swimming. In 2016 I swam 7km in 14C water across Torbay in the midst of one of the biggest smacks of Compass Jellyfish I’ve ever seen, sea mist and swell. I cursed profusely for 30 minutes afterwards and stood in a hot shower for another half an hour before I warmed up. I think that was the day I decided enough was enough and I’d stick to shorter, scenic swims. Around the same time l I realised there was a string of little lidos around Dartmoor. I don’t recall how, but I met Pam Barrett, who having been inspired by the Flatpack Democracy movement had organised for like minded people to stand on a slate for Town Council elections and make a difference to Buckfastleigh. One of her achievements was to keep the local lido and surrounding park open in the face of local council cuts from central Government. I organised the first, second and third Buckfastleigh Ice Galas and helped to raise money for the pool and at the same bringing cold water swimmers together in the south west for an icy lark in February.

Emma Pusill was the co-author and researcher of a book – The Lido Guide – on every lido in Britain. It’s a marvel; for avid swimmers it gives a tantalising possibility of endless diversions on trips to see Mum, Dad, Granny, sibs and friends. Or just an excuse to go and support them and have a swim in the middle of nowhere (sometimes), a big city (a few left) or some wild coast (remnants exist along the Scottish east coast). Emma is also involved in the committee at the lovely Portishead Lido, just south of Bristol. Not far off the M5…

Nancy Farmer makes great hats. This one is Ukraine solidarity. I wear her dragon hats every time I wear a hat, which these days is for the odd foray into the sea in the colder seasons… otherwise hat free. A hat is the one piece go thermal protection that a long distance swimmer (going by Channel Rules) is allowed to wear.

I am now a member of the Dartmouth Swimming Club Masters. Which is a grand way of saying that I go to Dartmouth pool on a Wednesday evening (infrequently) and have an hour of coached sets. Mat, the head coach, is masterful in his ability to describe how to make small adjustments to your stroke… and voila, suddenly I can do fly without dying halfway up a length. The hat was bought in support of some swimmers who decided to do a mile every hour for 24 hours.

All hats being given away. If you live close come and get them x