Cold is an adverse condition for humans; it hurts, it’s the opposite of what we spend our modern lives doing (getting comfortable). But if we narrow it down to a safety perspective, I think it’s a bit of a myth that you’re necessarily safer if you’re swimming with someone. Choose somewhere easy to get in and then back out is important, especially in the winter when getting in might be ok but getting out onto a stony surface can be horrible. The Handbook has a democratic purpose; to give anyone the confidence and the inspiration to begin to swim.

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I try to keep my thoughts on the surface of the water, and tow floats can be quite useful as they’re so resolutely on the surface and that brings your imagination back up.

She also provides a comprehensive description of different tides and currents, alongside how one can navigate them to swim as safely as possible. It’s a very poetic kind of handbook, with beautiful community photography (thanks to all the contributors!

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Deep water fear is really interesting because, having talked to a lot of swimmers, I don’t think it really goes away. Understanding Seas’ is a particularly useful chapter - Kate breaks down different types of waves and explains why and how they form. Rew suggests several reasons why this might be - freedom from gravity, immersion in nature - but at the end of the day, she doesn’t want to over-analyse it. There's adventure swims, where you might be planning A to B swims; there's people that just lie around meditating, or those who love to go night swimming,” Kate says.

Calum: “If you’ve just started swimming, get out while you’re still enjoying it and keep it super short. Wild swimming is a good practice ground for controlling your thoughts and anxieties - we all have them. The warmer you are when you get in, the warmer you are when you get out, that’s how I think about it.

The Outdoor Swimmers’ Handbook - Guernsey Literary Festival The Outdoor Swimmers’ Handbook - Guernsey Literary Festival

While the fear of being grabbed by a monster and pulled underwater while swimming might sound laughable on dry land, when you’re swimming across a cloudy lake, it’s far more pervasive. People swim for all sorts of reasons: for the mental or spiritual uplift, or as a creative practice. Speaking to kayakers can be a great way to find out about swimming in the sea as they tend to be more risk adverse, so then I think about it with a swimmer’s mindset. If your focus is that you want to swim up and down a river, and enjoy nature and relax, then having a wetsuit might be a really important part of your journey - you won’t need to worry if it’s too far for you anymore. David Rock and his swim buddies tell us about their record-breaking (pending ratification) oldest mixed 4-person relay across the Channel, and how they prepared themselves for the swim of their lives.Tow floats are used far more than they need to be, but they are useful for taking your stuff from A to B or taking your car keys. These people happily hang up their trunks after the summer and won’t be seen again until May,” she explains.