In At The Deep End

What does a life fully lived in the water look like? For Jane Asher, it looks like five world records broken in a single weekend, at the age of 95. A South London swimming legend and great-grandmother, Jane didn't even begin her competitive career until she was 55. Since then, she has become one of Masters swimming's most remarkable figures, currently holding world records in the 95–99 age group across the 50m, 100m, 200m, individual medley, and 50m backstroke.

In this conversation, Salim sits down with Jane to trace the extraordinary arc of her life, from clandestine boarding school pool sessions in 1940s Johannesburg and witnessing apartheid at close quarters, to coaching the next generation and returning to competition in her late 50s. Jane reflects on the joy that has kept her in the water for over eight decades, the friendships swimming has given her across the world, and why she still does tumble turns.

What's in this episode

• Growing up on Zambia's Copperbelt and swimming at a Johannesburg boarding school in the 1940s
• How apartheid shaped and troubled Jane's early life, and the moment swimming offered something different
• Teaching herself to swim competitively at 40, then discovering the Masters swimming world
• Building clubs and communities, from Jane's Extra Training sessions to the King's Cormorants in Wimbledon
• Breaking five World Records at the recent Guernsey Masters meet
• The meditative quality of swimming and why counting strokes keeps her present
• Her advice to anyone over 60 thinking about getting in the water for the first time
• Why Jane still gets up for a 9am swim three times a week.

Useful Links

Swimming & Open Water

• Shepperton Open Water Swim: sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk
• Hampton Pool 
• Kings Cormorants Masters Swimming Club - Jane's local swimming club
• East Anglian Swallow Tails - the club Jane set up with her friends Seymour Banning and Carol Buykx
• Kingfishers Swimming Club - set up by Jane in Norwich
• Swim England Masters - the national body for adult competitive swimming in England
• Outdoor Swimmer Magazine

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim

Jane's record breaking achievements

• BBC article on Jane's five world records in April, 2026

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 Episode 3, Salim is joined by Adam Filby - technology professional, fundraiser, triathlete and dad. 

In May 2017, on the same day the WannaCry cyberattack was tearing through NHS systems across the country, Adam was on an operating table donating part of his liver to his seven-year-old daughter Florence, who had been born with a life-threatening liver condition. He came round from the anaesthetic not in intensive care, but in a makeshift room in a hospital corridor, and within 24 hours had signed up for an Ironman.

Adam's relationship with swimming began years earlier, quietly shaped by the knowledge that one day his daughter might need him to be in the best possible shape. What followed was a journey from a man who could barely swim 50 metres, through triathlons, half Ironmans and four full Ironmans, to someone for whom the open water has become the place he finds the same peace he once found running through a forest the night before the operation. This is a story about love, purpose, the human body's extraordinary capacity to heal and what happens when you refuse to set a limit on what you might be capable of.

Key themes in this episode:

• Biliary atresia, the rare liver condition Florence was born with, and what it means for families waiting for a transplant
• Training for a triathlon in your early 30s with a quiet, deeper motivation behind it
• What it's like to be on the transplant list - the waiting, the restrictions, the fear
• The day of the operation - two theatres, a cyberattack, and a photo taken over a surgeon's shoulder
• Going from lying in a hospital bed to completing an Ironman in five and a half months
• How swimming and exercise became a vehicle for processing an enormous experience
• The calm that open water gives and why Adam can no longer train in a pool
• The case for living organ donation, and why fitness is no barrier to recovery
• Finding purpose through sport: from proving something to simply thriving

Useful Links

Swimming & Open Water

• Shepperton Open Water Swim: sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk
• Hampton Pool — where Mei-Ling rediscovered swimming during the pandemic
• Swim Serpentine — open-water event completed during her recovery
• Kingfisher Triathletes - Triathlon club
• British Triathlon
• Outdoor Swimmer Magazine

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim

Organ Donation

• NHS Organ Donation — register as an organ donor
• Children's Liver Disease Foundation — supporting families affected by childhood liver disease

Adam Filby

• Follow Adam on Instagram

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 Episode 2 of In At The Deep End, Salim is joined by Dr Mei-Ling Lancashire - GP, cancer survivor, single mum and swimmer. At the peak of her fitness, Mei-Ling discovered a breast lump and, as a GP with a background in breast cancer research, knew instantly what it meant. What followed was an aggressive diagnosis, gruelling chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and the challenge of holding everything together for her two young daughters.

Swimming became her lifeline. From a childhood passion, cut short by societal misconceptions, to a primal fear of deep water and, eventually, open-water sessions at Shepperton Lake, her relationship with the water has been anything but simple. And that's exactly what makes her story so powerful.

Key themes in this episode:

• Childhood swimming talent ended by 1980s attitudes towards women athletes
• Breast cancer diagnosis at peak fitness, and the shock of knowing immediately what it was
• Staying active through chemotherapy and surgery as a single parent
• Fundraising for Cancer Research UK and becoming the face of a national campaign
• Overcoming a deep-rooted fear of open water
• Nerve damage from surgery and chemo, and learning to reconnect with key swimming muscles
• The role of Pilates in unlocking a better swim stroke
• Swimming as the last sport standing when injury takes everything else away
• What it truly means to thrive, not just survive

Useful Links

Swimming & Open Water

• Shepperton Open Water Swim: sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk
• Hampton Pool — where Mei-Ling rediscovered swimming during the pandemic
• Swim Serpentine — open-water event completed during her recovery

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim

Cancer Awareness

• Cancer Research UK — the charity Mei-Ling has fundraised for throughout her recovery
• Breast Cancer Now — helpline: 0808 800 6000

Dr Mei-Ling Lancashire

• Follow Mei-Ling on Instagram
• Donate to Dr Mei Ling's Cancer Research UK fundraising page here: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/unite/mei-lings-giving-page

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 this debut episode of In At The Deep End, host and swim coach Salim Ahmed welcomes his first guest, Dr Victoria Rose - or 'Rosie' as he knows her - a consultant plastic surgeon whose life is defined by two remarkable worlds: the operating theatres of London hospitals and the war-torn hospitals of Gaza.

Rosie shares her journey from dedicated runner to passionate swimmer, how a serious knee injury changed everything and why swimming has become a lifeline - not just physically, but mentally and emotionally - as she processes the harrowing work of treating children with blast, burn, and bullet injuries in one of the world's most dangerous conflict zones.

Key themes in this episode:

• What plastic surgery really involves and why it has such an unfair reputation
• The IDEALS charity and its decades of work supporting surgeons in conflict zones
• Life in Gaza before and after October 2023 - the contrast between restaurants and rubble
• The friendship and responsibility that drives humanitarian volunteers back into danger
• The physiological magic of cold water and the body's response to immersion
• Swimming as community, fitness and mental health support
• Open-water swimming at Shepperton Lake, and the eureka moment
• Swimming for body, mind and soul: resilience, mindfulness and showing up

Useful Links

Swimming & Open Water

• Shepperton Open Water Swim: sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk
• Swim England — Find a Club — find a Masters club near you
• British Masters Swimming
• Outdoor Swimming Society — open-water locations and resources

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab - Learn to swim with Salim

Organisations Mentioned

• IDEALS Charity — supporting surgeons in conflict zones

Dr Victoria Rose

• Follow Rosie on Instagram

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

Welcome to In at the Deep End, a new podcast hosted by swim coach Salim Ahmed.

In this trailer you'll get a glimpse into the kinds of stories featured on the show: honest conversations with people whose lives have been shaped by swimming in ways that go far beyond the pool. Stories about resilience, identity, loss, ambition and the moments when the water became a place to think, heal, push on or start again.

If swimming has ever meant more to you than just lengths and times, this is where it begins.

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