Wikipedia

Kate Rew

(Anna) Kate Rew[1] (born 11 September 1969) is a swimmer, author, journalist and founder of The Outdoor Swimming Society. Rew lives in Somerset.[2]

Early life

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Kate Rew was born in Devon, England, where she grew up with a deep connection to the natural world. The picturesque landscapes and waterways of Devon played a significant role in shaping her love for outdoor activities, particularly swimming in the River Culm.[3] [4]She attended the University of Oxford.[5]

Career & Achievements

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Kate Rew is best known as a pioneer of the outdoor swimming movement in the United Kingdom. She founded The Outdoor Swimming Society (OSS) in 2006[6], an organisation dedicated to promoting and supporting outdoor swimming in natural waters. Under her leadership, The OSS has grown to become a significant community, inspiring hundreds of thousands to take up outdoor swimming around the world.[7]

Rew is also an accomplished author and journalist[8][9][10]. Her first book, "Wild Swim" (Faber), published in 2008, combined personal anecdotes, practical advice, and original photography to celebrate the joys and challenges of swimming in natural waters. The book was praised for its inspirational content and its role in popularising wild swimming, and became a bestseller[11][12]. Her second book, "The Outdoor Swimmers' Handbook' (Rider, 2022), brought together art, sport and science to teach readers everything they may need to enjoy swims in any water body[13][14].

In addition to her book, Kate has written numerous articles for prominent publications, as well as featuring on TV, radio and blogs, sharing her insights and experiences related to outdoor swimming and the natural environment[15][16][17][18]. Her writing often emphasizes the physical and mental health benefits of swimming in natural settings, as well as the sense of adventure and connection to nature it provides[19][20][21].

Legacy and Recognition

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In 2009 the news and lifestyle periodical Monocle magazine named her as one of its 20 "global heroes who deserve a bigger stage worldwide".[22] . In 2016 she received the Paragon Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame in California, America for her 'stalwart contributions' to recreational swimming[23].

Event Director & Charity Fundraiser Rew launched the first mass market open water swim in the UK in 2006, a charity swim called Breaststrokes in Windermere which raised money for Cancer Research UK. Breastrokes ran in Windermere and in Serpentine in 2006 and 2007, raising over £250k for the charity, which Rew had a loyalty to as a result of her mother's experiences of breast cancer.[24]

She went on to found and run some of Britain's most iconic swim events the Dart10k (2009), The Bantham Swoosh and the Hurly Burly[25]. She began a partnership with charity Level Water, which offers swimming lessons to children with disabilities, in 2016, and the events raised millions for the charity before being taken on by them in 2022[26][27][28]. She continues to support the charity through The OSS, saying 'The OSS is proud of our substantial and longstanding role in helping this charity level things up, kickstarting a love of swimming in disabled children who might otherwise not have access to it'.

Through The OSS and events she has also mobilised swimmers in support of Surfers Against Sewage and Project Seagrass.

Right to Swim & Community Advocate Rew champions the everyday swimmer in her work. She has written and appeared in short films such as Chasing The Sublime[29] to share her philosophy that 'there is always fear on a swim, of discomfort and risk' but that it is through this the sublime is reached. Chasing The Sublime appeared on Oprah Winfrey's SuperSoul Sunday[30].

In the UK, Rew has been vocal on the need for a greater legal access to reservoirs and other bodies of water through her work on 'Right to Swim', and together with the OSS Inland Access Group and Sheffield Outdoor Plungers (SOUP), she started a Kinder Swim Trespass in 2021[31] which has grown into an annual and now nationwide fixture[32].

With a view to making swimming more accessible in urban environments worldwide, she is a founding partner of the Swimmable Cities network[33].

References

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  1. ^ "Anna Kate REW - Personal Appointments (Free information from Companies House)".
  2. ^ Howell, Madeleine (17 May 2019). "Forget the cold water warnings: Wild swimming is a tonic for body and mind". The Telegraph.
  3. ^ Danziger, Danny; Critchley, Emma (28 September 2008). "Best of Times, Worst of Times: Kate Rew, outdoor swimmer -". Times Online. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  4. ^ SpeedoInternational (4 August 2011). Kate Rew's Unforgettable Swim, Speedo. Retrieved 11 November 2024 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "Wild Swim with Kate Rew | Port Eliot Festival". Archived from the original on 24 August 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Anna Kate REW personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  7. ^ Society, Outdoor Swimming. "The OSS Manifesto". Outdoor Swimming Society. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  8. ^ "Kate Rew | The Guardian". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  9. ^ "Swimming through Arizona soothed my mind". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  10. ^ Rew, Kate (10 April 2012). "Follow the rules to enjoy wild swimming in London". The Standard. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  11. ^ Rudd, The Sunday Times Reviews by Matt (29 June 2008). "Wild Swim: River, Lake, Lido and Sea by Kate Rew / Wild Swimming: 150 Hidden Dips by Daniel Start". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Book review: swim on the wild side". Mail Online. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  13. ^ "The Outdoor Swimmers' Handbook". Goodreads. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  14. ^ "In Conversation With | Kate Rew". Finisterre. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  15. ^ "BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Diving Venus". BBC. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  16. ^ "BBC - Radio 4 Woman's Hour -Outdoor swimming". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  17. ^ "BBC Two - Coast, Series 4 (Shortened Versions), Dover to Selsey Bill". BBC. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  18. ^ "BBC Two - Coast, Series 4, Inner Hebrides to the Faroe Islands". BBC. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  19. ^ Rew, Kate (17 August 2008). "Swimmers, I'll see you outside". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  20. ^ Howell, Madeleine (17 May 2019). "Forget the cold water warnings: wild swimming is a tonic for body and mind". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  21. ^ Poulton, Lindsay; Tait, Michael; Pickford, Nigel; theguardian.com (30 September 2009). "Wild Swim: The Thames, Oxfordshire". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  22. ^ "Our heroes gallery - Issue 29 - Magazine". Monocle. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  23. ^ Munatones, Steven (25 May 2016). "Kate Rew Receives 2016 Paragon Award". World Open Water Swimming Association. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  24. ^ "Outdoor swimmers raise funds for cancer charity". www.thirdsector.co.uk. 8 February 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  25. ^ "Hundreds join endurance Dart river swims". BBC News. 5 September 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  26. ^ Society, Outdoor Swimming; lydiaredpost (13 April 2018). "Level Water becomes OSS charity partner". Outdoor Swimming Society. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  27. ^ Society, Outdoor Swimming; lydiaredpost (17 October 2016). "How Level Water is Changing Lives". Outdoor Swimming Society. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  28. ^ Society, Outdoor Swimming; Couch, Ali (16 February 2022). "Swim Collective take over The OSS Events 2022". Outdoor Swimming Society. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  29. ^ BMC TV (15 January 2019). Chasing The Sublime. Retrieved 11 November 2024 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ "Chasing the Sublime". Oprah.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  31. ^ Society, Outdoor Swimming; morganjgibson (29 April 2021). "Kinder Mini Mass Trespass 2021". Outdoor Swimming Society. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  32. ^ Society, Outdoor Swimming; imogen36 (21 May 2024). "Right to Swim nationwide 2024". Outdoor Swimming Society. Retrieved 11 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "Swimmable Cities". Swimmable Cities (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 November 2024.
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Books

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·       Rew, K. (2008). Wild Swim: River, Lake, Lido and Sea: The Best Places to Swim Outdoors in Britain. Guardian Books, London. ISBN 978-0-85265-093-6.

·       Rew, K (2022). The Outdoor Swimmer's Handbook: Collected Wisdom on the Art, Sport and Science of Outdoor Swimming. ISBN 9781846047282

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