The Outdoor Swimming Research Forum will be held at the Windermere Jetty Museum on 12-13th September 2024. This 1.5-day research forum will share and generate research opportunities with professional organisations and academic researchers invested in outdoor swimming.
This is not an open-public event. The forum will host up to 45 international academic researchers, professional organisations, and others actively invested in equitable knowledges, participation, and research within outdoor swimming.
Over the 1.5 days, there will be 13 presentations, a facilitated workshop, informal networking, and opportunities to swim/dip in Windermere’s iconic waters. The outline for the forum and selected speakers are shown below.
Applications to attend and present are now closed. To join our reserves list, please email the lead organiser, Taylor Butler-Eldridge on tb585@exeter.ac.ukÂ
This forum has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the South West Doctoral Training Partnership, and the University of Exeter (Geography).
Unfortunately, there are no reimbursements for talks, travel, or accommodation.Â
Thursday 12th September 2024 (Full Day)
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Check-in (09:30) at Windermere Jetty Museum
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- Introduction (09:45)
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Presentation Session 1 (10:00 - 11:30)
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1. Taylor Butler-Eldridge - Swimming with Care at Windermere
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2. Ronan Foley - Trace, Place & Space: Swimming as a salutogenic practice
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3. Heather Massey and Hannah Denton - OUTSIDE: OUTdoor Swimming as a nature-based Intervention for DEpression; a feasibility randomised controlled trial
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4. Rebecca Olive - I move the water and the water moves me: Swimming in ecologies
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5. Elitsa Penkova - Is antimicrobial resistance in rivers a public health risk?
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Break (11:30 - 11:50)
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Presentation Session 2 (11:50 - 13:10)
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6. Maggy Blagrove - Blue Social Prescribing: Removing barriers to access
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7. Damian Stevenson - An introduction to the Black Swimming Association's ground-breaking research
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8. Svenja Adolphs and Suzanne McGowan - Blue Space Literacy: The representation of risks and benefits of outdoor swimming
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9. Gilly McArthur and Jonathan Cowie - The Ripple Effect: Male Representation, Wellbeing, and Communities in Outdoor Swimming
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Lunch (13:10 - 14:10)
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Presentation Session 3 (14:10 - 15:30)
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10. Eva McGrath - Swimming through pregnancy, birth and matrescence
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11. Joyce Harper - The swimming habits of women who cold water swim and how they feel it affects their menstrual and menopause symptoms
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12. Sally Sutton - The Right to the Water: Public Space or Private Asset?
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13. Caroline Scarles and Catherine Kelly - Navigating Meaningful Multi-Stakeholder Engagement in Blue Spaces for Health and Wellbeing
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- Final Reflections (15:40)
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Optional networking or swimming (16:30) at Rayrigg Meadow bathing site
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- Note: The Windermere Jetty Museum gates shut at 17:00
The forum will be delivered in-person, and presentations will be held on Thursday 12th September 2024 only. The forum schedule is tight, and each presentation slot is 15 minutes (max) with 5 minutes for questions. Following consent from our speakers, we aim to video record the presentations and publish on YouTube.Â
Please send your presentation files to Taylor Butler-Eldridge on tb585@exeter.ac.uk before Wednesday 4th September 2024.
Friday 13th September 2024 (Half Day)
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Check-in (09:30) at Windermere Jetty Museum
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- Introduction (09:45)
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Future Directions for Outdoor Swimming Research (10:00 - 12:45) - Workshop led by Kate Moles, Rebecca Olive, and Ronan Foley
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• This workshop will give forum guests a chance to reflect on the discussions of Day One and to locate emerging and missing research topics related to various people, practices, places, and policies in outdoor swimming. This friendly, interactive workshop will facilitate work on a creative, collaborative document that we will co-create together. The workshop is open to all forum guests, whose knowledges, expertise, and experiences about outdoor swimming issues are of vital importance. Working together, we can build a picture of how best to support more accessible, safe, and inclusive outdoor swimming cultures and communities.
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- Break (11:30 - 11:45)
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- Final Reflections (12:45)
For any further information or queries about the forum schedule, please email the lead organiser, Taylor Butler-Eldridge on tb585@exeter.ac.uk
Supported By
Taylor Butler-Eldridge
University of Exeter
Rebecca Olive
RMIT University
Ronan Foley
Maynooth University
Kate Moles
Cardiff University
Jonathan Cowie
Outdoor Swimmer Magazine
Jess Emsley
Nottingham Trent University
Ben Cannon
Videographer
Heidi Kearsey
Swim Guide
Wayne Singleton
Swim Guide
Gilly McArthur
Swim Guide
Windermere Jetty Museum (Venue)
Rayrigg Road, Windermere, LA23 1BN.
The forum is being held at the Windermere Jetty Museum (Wolfson Learning Centre), which overlooks the water and surrounding mountains. The venue has rowed seating and has wheelchair friendly access. There is no quiet room, but there is outside seating and shoreline space. Catering will be provided. Free parking is available on-site for event guests (the gates are locked at 5pm). There are busses to/from Windermere train station from Bowness-on-Windermere. The train connects to Oxenholme with connections to London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. There are numerous accommodation options in/near Windermere or Bowness. Unfortunately, we cannot reimburse travel or accommodation costs.
Rayrigg meadow (Bathing Site)
Rayrigg Road, Windermere, LA23 1BP.
Optional swims/dips will be held at Rayrigg Meadow (designated public bathing site) and safeguarded by 3 local qualified swim guides. Please note: We will ask you to complete a health form at the forum. However, these are not facilitated swims, kit will not be provided, and you are responsible for your own swim safety. Rayrigg Meadow is within short walking distance to the Jetty Museum (pavement access). If driving, you cannot leave your vehicle at the museum. Car pooling is encouraged. Paid council car parking is available at Rayrigg Meadow and there is sometimes free space on Birthwaite Road. The bathing site has ramp access and public toilets, but there are no on-shore changing facilities available.
