In At The Deep End

This month, Salim tackles the one thing the majority adult swimmers worry about before they've even started a stroke: breathing.

It's the first topic most adults raise in a swimming lesson, and it can quietly hold back your progress for years. If you're a confident runner, cyclist or triathlete who runs out of puff after two lengths, or a nervous beginner who holds their breath and hopes for the best, this episode is for you. Salim busts the myths and explains how to swim front crawl with calm, efficient breathing.

In this Coach's Corner, Salim covers:

• Why super-fit runners, triathletes and Ironmen so often struggle in the pool, and the two questions Salim asks them first
• The "hoarding air" problem: why holding your breath leads to a build-up of carbon dioxide, a racing heart and early exhaustion
• Why breathing every two strokes is the default for top swimmers
• Why bilateral breathing is a great training skill but a poor default setting
• How to breathe like you do in any other activity
• How to get started
• A simple three-length breathing drill to build confidence on both sides

Coaching tip of the episode

Don't hoard air. Breathe out slowly and steadily while your face is in the water, and take in only a partial breath when you turn to breathe. Make the controlled exhale your secret weapon, and when you feel tired, glide a little longer and extend your out-breath rather than rushing your stroke.

Be a part of Coach's Corner. Here's how to get in touch:

• Email us: [email protected]
• Use the get in touch form HERE — https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE — https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio — thegoodstudio.co.uk

Ten years ago, Lise Thorne turned up to her first swimming lesson able to do exactly one stroke, and desperate to avoid the other. Since then she's built Walking This Way into a community of 100,000 followers by talking honestly about midlife, reinvention and everything the brochures leave out, but front crawl was the one thing she'd quietly dodged for her entire adult life.

In this episode of In At The Deep End, host and swim coach Salim Ahmed sits down with Lise to work out what changed: how she went from panicking halfway round a 750m lake loop to swimming Coniston's five and a half miles, and why she's now training for a 70km relay across Lake Geneva.

Together, Salim and Lise explore:

• The first lesson that nearly ended in a panicked swim back to shore
• Why breaststroke feels safe but front crawl is actually the more efficient, lower-impact stroke
• How learning to breathe properly unlocked a stroke she'd avoided her whole adult life
• The mental leap from one triathlon in a borrowed wetsuit to a 5.5-mile lake swim
• Why speed and sprint training matter more, not less, as we get older
• How swimming became a physical route through issues that had nothing to do with the water
• Letting go of the fear of "holding the group back", in the pool and in life

This is a conversation about learning to swim as an adult, yes, but it's really about what happens when you finally stop avoiding the thing that scares you.

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim
• Follow Salim on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salimswimlab/

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: [email protected]
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

This is the first ever Coach's Corner, a brand new monthly series from In at the Deep End. 

Between main episodes, Salim will take a deep dive into one coaching topic at a time, answering the questions you send in and sharing tips, techniques and advice picked up across 20 years of swim coaching. And you can help choose the topics, just email in or leave a voice message about what you struggle with, what you want to improve, or what's holding you back, and Salim could cover it in a future episode.

To kick things off, this episode is all about connection, the thing most swim coaches skip straight past. Fear of open water doesn't care how fit or experienced you are. It's hit Olympic swimmers, seasoned triathletes mid-race, and pool swimmers who feel completely at home in a lane but freeze the moment they're in a lake or the sea. Salim breaks down why building a genuine connection with the water, before you even think about technique, is the real foundation of confident, efficient swimming.

In this Coach's Corner, Salim covers:

• His five-step process for building water confidence
• Why coaching often has nothing to do with swimming at all
• What Vicki Anstey had to overcome before she could even begin training for her record-breaking Pacific row
• Why "the push and glide" is the fastest part of any length, and how top Olympians already use it
• The moment Joe Wicks, one of the fittest men in the country, panicked fifty metres into an open water swim, and how connection work turned that around
• The three pieces of kit Salim recommends once you're ready to start working on propulsion
• Why Salim describes swimming as a performance art rather than a sport, built on doing less to get more

Coaching tip of the episode:
Before you touch technique, get connected. Stand on the poolside or the water's edge and treat the water as your friend, not an obstacle. Calm heart rate and comfort in the water aren't a nice-to-have, they're the foundation everything else is built on.

Coming up in future episodes:

• The perfect plod: finding your natural swimming rhythm
• Swimming like Katie Ledecki
• Breathing and building an adaptable repertoire
• The kick: two-beat, four-beat, six-beat, and fixing "sinky legs"
• The need for speed, and staying fast as you get older

Be a part of Coach's Corner. Here's how to get in touch:

• Email us: [email protected]
• Use the get in touch form HERE — https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE — https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio — thegoodstudio.co.uk

Ocean rower. World record-breaker.  Deep water phobic.

At six years old, a jetty gave way beneath Vicki Anstey and her sister, plunging them into deep water. Both survived, but the fear followed her for the next three decades: no diving into the deep end, no jumping off boats, a quiet, lifelong avoidance of anything past her depth. Then, in her forties, she said yes to rowing the Pacific, unsupported and with two crew-mates whose safety depended on her fear staying in check. In this fascinating episode, Vicki talks to Salim about the panic that surfaced when she agreed to take part in SAS: Who Dares Wins, the cognitive behavioural therapy that finally named what she was really afraid of, and the open water coaching - with Salim - that got her calm enough to cross one of the deepest stretches of ocean on the planet, and set a world record doing it.

Together, Salim and Vicki explore:

• The near-drowning at six years old that shaped her relationship with water for 30 years
• What actually happened when a childhood fear resurfaced on SAS: Who Dares Wins
• How CBT uncovered the real fear underneath the fear, and why it wasn't about the water at all
• The open water coaching process used to prepare her, physically and mentally, for an unsupported ocean crossing
• Why 60 days at sea taught her more about people than about swimming
• The toxic team dynamics on board, and the coping mechanisms she built to survive them
• What the title of her book - Other people are like the weather - means, and how it changed the way she handles conflict
• Why she's about to do it all again, rowing the Atlantic this December

Useful Links

• Vicki's website: vickianstey.co.uk
• Vicki on Instagram: @vickianstey
• Vicki's book, Other People Are Like the Weather: Buy here

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim
• Follow Salim on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salimswimlab/

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: [email protected]
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

Olympian. Record-breaker. Flag bearer.

Mark Foster was the fastest swimmer in Britain by 15, and one of the most enduring sprinters this country has ever produced. Across five Olympic Games and 23 years at the top, he won six world titles, eight world records and eleven European titles, carried the flag for Team GB in Beijing, and somehow kept finding another gear when sprinters are supposed to burn out. 

In this episode, Salim sits down with Mark to talk about the training revolution he helped pioneer, the double life he led for years before coming out, and what real longevity in sport actually looks like.

Together, Salim and Mark explore:

• Knowing you're something special at 11, and becoming the fastest swimmer in the UK by 15
• Why Mark helped reinvent British sprint training after the 1996 Olympics, borrowing from athletics and powerlifting
• The underwater pullout and starts that became his trademark, and the marginal gains behind them
• Chasing five Olympics without ever winning an individual medal, and what kept him coming back
• Living two separate lives for years, and the moment falling in love changed everything
• Ageing well, staying active in his fifties, and why he's finally ready to try open water

Useful links

• Mark's book: My Double Life, published by Bloomsbury, out now.
• Mark's official website: markfoster.co.uk/

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim
• Follow Salim on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salimswimlab/

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: [email protected]
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

This week Salim is joined by actress Sabrina Bartlett, known for Bridgerton, Poldark, Knightfall, Victoria and that unforgettable Game of Thrones finale, and currently on screens in BBC One's I, Jack Wright. But this isn't a conversation about her impressive CV. Salim and Sabrina have history: he coached her back in 2013 for her breakout film role as a Channel swimmer, and this episode goes right back to where it all began, for both of them.

Together, Salim and Sabrina explore:

• How a 2013 film shoot in Italy, playing a Channel swimmer, changed the course of both their lives
• The moment of pure overwhelm on a first open water swim, and the mental trick that got her through it
• Why performance artists, dancers and ballerinas often pick up swimming technique faster than anyone else
• The idea of swimming as a performance art rather than a sport, and what that shift in mindset actually does to technique
• Cold water swimming as a ritual before a working day and the anxiety that never quite goes away, even for experienced swimmers
• Setting boundaries on set and what it means to have someone advocating for your physical wellbeing when the job demands otherwise
• Sabrina's favourite open water spots, from Positano and Sorrento to Cornwall's lesser known coves
• Why October, not summer, is secretly the best month to swim in the Cornish sea

Useful Links

• The Crossing, the 2013 short film that first brought Salim and Sabrina together
• The Last Sunrise, Sabrina's upcoming film, out on Amazon Prime from 26 August
• I, Jack Wright, currently airing on BBC One and iPlayer
• Outdoor Swimmer Magazine: outdoorswimmer.com
• Shepperton Open Water Swim: sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk
• Watergate Bay Hotel - where Salim holds his swimming retreats: watergatebay.co.uk/

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim
• Follow Salim on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salimswimlab/

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: [email protected]
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

Pete Abell grew up in Gloucestershire. No coastline, no surf breaks, no obvious reason to end up where he did. But when his dad took him to Mawgan Porth at the age of eight with a borrowed foam board, something clicked. He never really left. Over two decades on, he's still there - running King Surf, raising a family in the water, and quietly building something that goes well beyond a surf school.

What's fascinating about Pete is his philosophy. He's not chasing performance or competing for the best wave. He rides old-school twin fins and single fins. He lets other people have the set. He'll watch someone catch their first wave and get just as much out of it as if he'd caught it himself. In a world that's always pushing harder and faster, there's something really refreshing about that.

In this episode, Salim and Pete explore:

• How a childhood spent swimming and skating led Pete to surfing, and why a back injury at 15 became a turning point.
• The connection between swimming ability and surf safety, including what speed standards lifeguards and surf coaches are actually expected to meet.
• The River Severn proposal: how Pete caught a wave at 7am on a freezing January morning, produced a ring from his armpit and created one of the most-watched videos on the BBC website that week.
• The crossover between open-water swimming and surfing: why Salim can spot a surfer within two lengths, and whether swimmers should all have a go
• What changes as you get older, not just physically, but in what you want from the water and what brings you back to it every morning.

Useful links

• Pete Abell and King Surf: kingsurf.co.uk
• Pete on LinkedIN: linkedin.com/in/peter-abell-9b688231/
• Outdoor Swimmer Magazine: outdoorswimmer.com
• Shepperton Open Water Swim: sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim
• Follow Salim on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salimswimlab/

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: [email protected]
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

In 2011, there was no magazine for people who swam outdoors. No shared home for the stories, the training, the destinations, the growing community of people quietly falling in love with open water. So Simon Griffiths made one. As the founder and publisher of Outdoor Swimmer, he helped give a movement a voice, and in doing so built one of the most quietly influential publications in UK sport. But the story behind the magazine is more personal, and more compelling, than the cover lines suggest. Simon started Outdoor Swimmer in the aftermath of the worst thing that had ever happened to him, driven by a need to keep moving, to build something and to stay afloat. More than a decade on, he is still doing exactly that, now turning 60 with a personal best 100m time, training across every stroke and distance, and launching the Renaissance Swimmer Project, a new venture that asks what swimming might unlock in the rest of your life.

Together, Salim and Simon explore:

• How a grief-driven idea became a landmark publication, and what it actually took to launch a magazine with no funding and a Google search.
• Why the open water swimming community felt different from the start, and the names and early believers who helped the magazine find its feet.
• What it means to get faster as you age, and how Simon broke a lifetime personal best in the pool on his 59th birthday.
• The training principles that actually matter as you get older, including why sprint work is more important for long-distance swimmers than they think.
• The case for swimming everything: why mixing strokes, distances, and environments makes you a better swimmer in all of them.
• The Renaissance Swimmer Project, what it is, what it is not, and why Simon believes swimming is just the beginning of a bigger conversation about how we live.
• Whether technology belongs in open water, from GPS goggles to coaching headsets, and where the line between useful and reductive sits.

Useful links

• Outdoor Swimmer Magazine: outdoorswimmer.com
• The Renaissance Swimmer Project: renaissanceswimmer.com
• Simon's book, Swim Wild and Free: Available from all good book resellers now
• Shepperton Open Water Swim: sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: [email protected]
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

Olympian. Marathon swimmer. History-maker.

In this episode of In At The Deep End, Salim sits down with Alice Dearing, the first black woman to represent Team GB in Olympic swimming.

But this conversation goes far beyond medals and Olympic qualification. Alice opens up about the emotional reality of elite sport: the burnout, the self-doubt, the pressure of representation and the strange tension between making history while simply wanting to perform well as an athlete.

Together, Salim and Alice explore:

•  Alice’s journey from Birmingham swimming clubs to the Tokyo Olympics 
•  Why she nearly walked away from swimming several times 
•  The hidden mental toll of high-performance sport 
•  The myths and stereotypes surrounding black people and swimming 
•  The work of the Black Swimming Association
•  The Soul Cap controversy before Tokyo 2020 
•  Identity, belonging and what it means to represent Britain today 
•  Life after retirement and Alice’s ambitions to shape the future of sport in the UK 

It’s an honest, thoughtful and timely conversation about water, identity, resilience and breaking down barriers.

If you enjoy the episode, please follow In At The Deep End, leave a rating or review and share it with someone who’d love it too.

Useful Links

Alice Dearing

• Alice's website: http://www.alicedearing.com/ 
• Team GB Profile: https://www.teamgb.com/athlete/alice-dearing/53rk1dw8eJYpYKnylE5rvD
• The Black Swimming Association: https://thebsa.co.uk/
• LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-dearing-oly-5ab64517b/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alicedearingx/

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim

Swimming & Open Water

• Shepperton Open Water Swim: sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk
• Outdoor Swimmer Magazine

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: [email protected]
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

Lorraine Candy is one of Britain's most recognisable media voices. She is the former editor of Cosmopolitan, Elle and The Sunday Times Style, she's also a Sunday Times bestselling author and co-host of the hugely popular Postcards from Midlife podcast. But in this episode, it's not the magazine covers or the bestseller lists that take centre stage. It's the water.

Lorraine came to open water swimming at 47, after a panic attack during a sprint triathlon left her terrified and determined never to feel that way again. What followed was a decade-long journey that she describes, without exaggeration, as the single thing that has most improved her life. In this episode Salim and Lorraine talk about what cold water actually gave her during the hardest years of perimenopause, why community is the most underreported benefit of open water swimming, and how the two of them ended up working together on something many swimmers avoid facing: going faster.

It's a rich, honest conversation about bravery, belonging, and what it means to find a sport that will carry you through the rest of your life.

In this episode:

• How a panic attack in a triathlon lake became the start of Lorraine's real swimming journey
• Cold water swimming and perimenopause - the mental, physical, and community benefits 
• Why the open water swimming community is one of the most inclusive and body-positive spaces Lorraine has ever found
• The moment she realised she'd been "plodding forever" and the mindful approach to speed that actually worked
• Favourite swims: Lake Geneva at sunrise, the Scilly Isles, swimming through a shoal of mackerel in Cornwall
• Fantasy swims on the horizon: the Strait of Gibraltar and Alcatraz
• Advice for midlife women and teenage girls - why getting in the water might be the best thing you can do for both of them

Useful Links

Lorraine Candy

• Postcards From Midlife podcast: https://www.postcardsfrommidlife.com/
• What's Wrong With Me? 101 Things Midlife Women Need to Know
• Lorraine's Substack newsletter, The Candy Club: https://substack.com/@lorrainecandy
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorrainecandy/

Swimming & Open Water

• Shepperton Open Water Swim: sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk
• Hampton Pool
• Outdoor Swimmer Magazine
• Watergate Bay Hotel - where Salim holds his swimming retreats

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: [email protected]
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk