how urban this global city is, it is not immediately obvious that this is a great place for open water swimming. Indeed, there is a thriving open water swimming scene. More accurately, there are several open water swimming scenes in London - in rivers (usually the River Thames), lakes, ponds, and outdoor pools. Here are four personal accounts of swimming in London in river, pond, lake and pool, respectively. These are: from Teddington to Richmond, in the Thames; in the Ponds at Hampstead Heath; at the Serpentine Swimming Club in Hyde Park; and with the South London Winter Swimming Club at Tooting Bec Lido.

These are extracts from the book ‘Memories like Water – Swimming in 65 places at the age of 65’, swum in 2019-20. All pre-pandemic swims, the one at Tooting Bec being on the cusp of COVID-19 lockdown.