Journal

You do not need to see someone swimming to spot an open-water swimmer.

Most of the time, they do not even need to get in. How often they check the forecast, what comes out of their bag, or the first thing they say at the beach can be a pretty strong giveaway.

Meet someone with a few of the following habits, and there is a good chance you have found one.

01. They call 18-degree water “pretty good”.

While everyone else pulls their coat a little tighter, they check the water temperature and think, “Actually, that’s not bad.”

Some of this comes down to habit. Regular exposure to cool water can change how swimmers perceive the temperature and some of their physiological responses to cold over time.

Still, 18°C is well below body temperature. Experience does not make the risks of cold water disappear.

02. There is always Vaseline in their bag.

Goggles, cap, towel, spare goggles, spare cap... And Vaseline.

On longer swims, repeated rubbing around the neck, underarms and swimsuit edges can irritate the skin. Barrier products such as petroleum jelly are used to reduce that friction.

It earns its space in the bag. Forget it once and you’ll understand why.

03. Google Maps is full of swim routes.

They look across a bay. Wonder how far it is between two headlands. Work out the distance around an island.

The map everyone else uses to plan a holiday is, to them, a collection of potential swims.

But a short line on a map does not make a swim safe or easy. Currents, boat traffic, places to get out and local rules matter just as much as the route itself.

04. They are always stretching their shoulders.

Waiting for coffee. Between meetings. Before a swim...

One arm comes across the chest. The other reaches overhead and back. A few shoulder rolls follow.

In freestyle, the shoulder repeats the same movements thousands of times. Mobility and strength matter.

Stretching alone is not enough: appropriate strength work, managing training load and good technique are important parts of shoulder health too.

They are probably rolling a shoulder while explaining all of this.

05. They check Windy more often than Instagram.

Wind direction, wind speed, wave height, currents, water temperature...

For an open-water swimmer, checking the forecast involves rather more than deciding whether to bring an umbrella.

And it is not just about how hard the wind is blowing. Its direction, the shape of the coast and the way waves develop can all change the swimming conditions.

A sunny day is not always a good swimming day. A cloudy one is not necessarily a bad one.

06. There is always a swimsuit drying somewhere.

In the bathroom. On the balcony. Over the shower screen. On a door handle...

One swimsuit getting wet before the other has dried is entirely normal.

The wet towel forgotten at the bottom of a bag is one of the less romantic parts of the sport.

07. Their hair is almost always wet.

They go straight from a morning swim to work. Somehow, it is lunchtime before their hair has dried.

Then the next swim comes around and the whole thing starts again.

A swim cap does not keep hair completely dry. Water getting inside it is perfectly normal, especially on longer swims.

Catching an open-water swimmer with completely dry hair may be rarer than you think.

08. Some of their friends are practically strangers in normal clothes.

They know one another in caps and goggles, occasionally with Vaseline on their faces, and usually with wet hair.

Meet up away from the water for the first time, and there may be a brief recognition problem.

That is part of the social side of open-water swimming. They are different ages, do different jobs and come from all walks of life. What brings them together is wanting to get into the same water early in the morning.

Over time, a swimming friendship can become one that carries on well beyond the shore.