Dr Abi Lafbery has a PhD in outdoor swimming from Lancaster University in the UK. Her thesis focussed on the health, thoughts, experiences and behaviours of wild/open water swimmers, the health of the water they swim in, and swimmers’ impacts on waterways. For almost five years she was researching and writing about swimming, flora and fauna, pollution, and climate.

In this episode we talk about Abi’s own swimming in Cornwall, the Lake District, and on the wild, post-industrial coast of North West England; what she discovered from her research and interviews with outdoor swimmers; the ‘immersive knowledge’ (Abi coined this term!) that we develop from getting into open water and observing what is around us; issues, rights, and decision-making around access to waterways and water quality; how swimming can be environmental, comforting, liberating, or even a ‘wild’ act that transcends societal boundaries; and our connections to water, other people, and ourselves.

Read Abi’s articles:

• ​In hot water: swimming and climate change (Outdoor Swimmer magazine, January 2026 – paywalled)
• ​Outdoor swimming is becoming a sanctuary for female swimmers in the UK (The Conversation, December 2025)

In this episode I mention Jono Ridler, who is swimming down the east coast of the North Island (1600km over 90 days) to end bottom trawling in NZ – find out more at swim4theocean.com and sign the petition.

Abi also mentions ‘sea gooseberries’ and I wondered if they were the same as salps – apparently they are similar but not identical! Sea gooseberries are ctenophores (comb jellies), while salps are barrel-shaped tunicates that swim by pumping water. Both are harmless, non-stinging, and jelly-like.

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Contact me via swimchatswithshona@gmail.com

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Dougal Dunlop is one of Wellington's swim legends and has been swimming and coaching for over 50 years. Now in his 70s, he continues to coach at Freyberg Pool and swims at Oriental Bay all year round – most mornings he'll be in the water at 6:46am (ish).

A back injury led to Dougal swimming regularly in the ocean and he founded the Washing Machines, a hardy group of open water enthusiasts including ultramarathoners and ice swimmers. Dougal updates the group (of over 200 members) via WhatsApp every day with the local swim conditions and water temperature.

We recorded this chat at AYE! Cafe in Oriental Bay so there's a bit of background noise sometimes – it's still a good listen for Dougal's stories and knowledge!

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Jono Ridler is currently swimming down the east coast of NZ's North Island (1,600km over 90 days) to raise awareness of destructive bottom trawling in the ocean. Find out more at swim4theocean.com and sign the petition!

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Bryn Williams is a Wellington ocean swimmer and is a great person to swim with. He helps nervous newbies (like me, a few years ago) and encourages us to have fun in the water whether it's jumping off the pontoons or doing handstands in the shallows. He's full of fun and lifts everyone's spirits just by showing up.

Bryn moved to NZ from Wales in the late 1970s, at the age of 14. When Bryn was young his uncle Tommy, who was in the Navy during WW2 and witnessed multiple drownings, taught his dozens of nephews and nieces to swim in the fresh, choppy Irish Sea. Bryn learned to navigate the waves and the jelllies. and as an adult he finds peace and joy in the sea, calling it his "Prozac". No wetsuit, no goggles, and sometimes accompanied by his golden retriever Ruby, a competitive harbour swimmer.

Bryn and I recorded this episode at his house and it's a great chat, so grab a cuppa and enjoy!

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Jono Ridler is currently swimming down the east coast of NZ's North Island (1,600km over 90 days) to raise awareness of destructive bottom trawling in the ocean. Find out more at ⁠swim4theocean.com⁠ and sign the petition.

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Support the Swim Chats podcast ($5 per month) via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/SwimChats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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At the time of recording this podcast (Feb 9, 2026), Danielle Falconer was preparing to swim the length of Lake Taupō (40.2km) in late February to raise awareness and support for those affected by dementia. Through her swim she is fundraising for Dementia NZ – visit her Givealittle page for more details.

In this episode we talk about:

• Danielle’s personal reasons for wanting to grow awareness and support around dementia and fundraise for Dementia NZ. We talk about the impact of dementia on the tens of thousands of Kiwis affected by it, as well as on their families, caregivers, and community.

• The nuts and bolts of planning and training for an ultramarathon swim: having a swim programme, nutrition, support crew, and a feeding plan.

• The need for flexibility and adaptability in the lead-up to a big swim: once the training is done, having to accept things (like weather!) that are out of our control.

• Working with ultramarathon swim coach and world record holder Phil Rush (who has his own episode of Swim Chats).

• The crucial support and encouragement of family and friends, and training around other life commitments (work, kids, life admin … ).

• Swimming in Wellington: the community, the locations, the pool squads, and the fresh and choppy open water.

• Follow Danielle on Instagram (@swim_taupo) or via her Swim Taupō website for updates on her swim

• Visit Danielle's Givealittle page to donate to Dementia NZ (make a one-off donation, pledge an amount per hour or km of Danielle's swim, or complete a free ‘brain booster' activity)

• Visit the Dementia NZ website to learn more about dementia and find support

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Jono Ridler is currently swimming down the east coast of NZ's North Island (1,600km over 90 days) to raise awareness of destructive bottom trawling in the ocean. Find out more at ⁠⁠swim4theocean.com⁠⁠ and sign the petition!

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Support the Swim Chats podcast ($5 per month) via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/SwimChats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Laura Quilter is a Masters and Ice Swimming world record holder, a competitive sprint swimmer, and runs a strength and swim coaching business called Aura Move.

Laura retired from competitive swimming (butterfly and freestyle) in 2016, in her mid-20s. Eight years later she discovered that she was faster than ever and qualified for her first World Aquatics Championships. Unusually for a competitive swimmer, she coaches herself. Laura's how-to videos on Instagram have inspired a following of 70K and led to her offering virtual and in-person strength and swim coaching via Aura Move.

In this episode we talk about returning to competitive swimming in her 30s, her strength training, her experiences at the NZ Ice Swimming Champs (breaking four world records in 2024), coaching her dad in his first competitive swim event, and approaching swimming with a spirit of curiosity, adventure, and fun.

Visit Laura's Aura Move website

Follow Laura @Auramovenz on Instagram

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The Z Manu World Champs is now in its third year and is making a splash as a fun water sports event that brings people together. A 'manu' is a v-shaped dive bomb. It has Māori / Pasifika origins and can be performed off a bridge, wharf, diving board, jetty – even off a horse – into any body of deep water, as long as it's done safely.

There are qualifying events being held around Aotearoa NZ (and on the Gold Coast) over the summer and the Grand Finals will be held in Auckland in March.

Manu World Champs founder Scott Rice came on the podcast to discuss what inspired him to create this event, how they judge the best manu (splash height is important but there's an art to a good manu), and how it celebrates people, communities, and the water.

Scott is a former competitive swimmer who also founded the NZ Ocean Swim Series and now runs Ocean Swim Fiji, a 'swimcation' offering three swims across five days (and zero worries).

Visit the Z Manu World Champs website

Follow the Manu World Champs on Instagram

Check out Ocean Swim Fiji

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It's a Swim Chats festive episode!

The seaside town of Felixstowe in the UK hosts an annual Christmas Day Dip to raise funds for St Elizabeth Hospice. 2025 is the event's 21st year and last Christmas there were 650 intrepid souls who made a winter's dash into the chilly North Sea, dressed in all sorts of festive outfits.

The hospice's Events and Challenges manager, James Fox-Golding, came on Swim Chats to talk about the joy of the event, how it's grown over the past 20 years, and its significance as a fundraiser for a service that provides medical attention and support to people with life-limiting illnesses.

• ​Learn more about the Felixstowe Christmas Day Dip
• ​Make a donation to St Elizabeth Hospice
• ​Watch That Christmas, a 2024 animated film that closes (no spoilers involved) with a heartwarming community swim! It's on Netflix.

Leave a comment below the episode to share your own Christmas swim/dip/plunge traditions. Here in Wellington, I enjoy a wharf jump with friends on Christmas morning. We also have the 'Twelve Bays of Christmas' event organised by Kate Camp, who has her own episode.

Photo courtesy of St Elizabeth Hospice

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It's our final swim history episode of 2025! Featuring special guest, ultramarathon swimmer John Hancock who is back for his third episode to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Captain Matthew Webb's English Channel crossing. We talk about:

• Captain Webb's astonishing Channel swim in 1875, a feat that hadn't been achieved before and was not repeated by anyone else for more than 30 years.
• The life story of the Captain – his heroism, his daring escapades, and his tragic final swim.
• The English Channel's swimming legacy, with facts and figures (mostly cobbled together from Wikipedia and the LongSwims database) and high achievers – including Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the Channel in 1926, and Sarah Thomas, who achieved a quadruple crossing in 2019.
• How the English Channel compares with the Cook Strait (John has swum the Strait and was on the support boat for Wellington swimmer Rebecca Hollingsworth when she swam the Channel in 2024).
• Wellington coach Phil Rush's unbeaten records for his double and triple crossings of the Channel in 1987 (Phil also has his own Swim Chats episode).
• Captain Paul Boyton, who in 1875 achieved the first 'assisted' crossing of the Channel wearing an inflatable rubber suit of his own design, just a few months before Captain Webb's 'unassisted' swim.

Photo: Captain Matthew Webb in the 1870s.

A useful source and recommended further reading: Splash! 10,000 Years of Swimming by Howard Means (Allen & Unwin, 2020)

Shona will be speaking at theWild Swimming in Aotearoa: Author Panel event at Newtown Library on November 27.

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