How to Choose the Right Experience! In this episode we explore the growing world of open water swim camps, swim treks, events and retreats, and how to decide which experience might be right for you.

0:00 - Intro

2:40 - 🌊 This Week In the Water

We highlighted the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association (ILDSA) Awards, celebrating some incredible achievements in the marathon swimming world.

• Open Water World Cup in Soma Bay

• Events across the Easter Long Weekend

• Yolanda - Double crossing of Robben Island

• The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships

• Jocelyn Webbs Derwent River Swim

• Jono Ridler Update - The Finish is near, petition passes 50k signatures.

18:26 - 🏊 The Main Set - What Swim Camp or Trip Should You Go On?

This week’s main conversation explored a question many swimmers eventually ask: “What type of swim trip or experience should I do?”

With so many options now available around the world, we broke the discussion down into four common categories.

• Swim Camps - are typically focused on learning and skill development.

• Swim Treks - focus more on exploration and experience. Instead of structured coaching, these trips are usually about swimming in incredible locations with support boats and experienced guides.

• Swim Events - combine challenge and community. These may include single-day races or multi-day events where swimmers complete a distance alongside others in a structured and safe environment.

• Swim Retreats - The final category we explored was wellness-focused swim retreats. These experiences are less about performance and more about connection with nature and personal wellbeing.

We also discussed the key things swimmers should look for when choosing a camp, trek or event.

40:30 -💙 Weekly Wisdom – How Did We Get Into Open Water Swimming? In this week’s Weekly Wisdom, we shared the personal stories behind how we both got into open water swimming and our experiences.

What became clear through both stories was that nobody starts as an expert.

Many swimmers begin with pool backgrounds and quickly realise open water requires completely different skills.

The ocean is unpredictable — and that’s exactly what makes it such a powerful teacher.

56:38 -🎙 Live Q&A During the live Q&A we tackled a question many swimmers think about but rarely ask openly: How do you choose the right time to take on a swim?

What factors go into this kind of decision;

• Weather stability (when in the year).

• Air Temp.

• Water Temp.

• Tides & currents - favourable vs. unfavourable

• Marine Life (breeding season).

• Night vs. Day.

• Business of waterway (ships, commuter boats) and more.

1:01:25 -❄️ The Cool Down

As always, we finished the show by reflecting on the conversation and inviting the community to continue shaping the direction of the show.

Words of the Week “Consistency wins. Because it's not what you do once in a while that matters — it's what you do every day.”

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After Swim is a global online community for open water swimmers, built around conversation, shared experience and connection.

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