The good news is there's never any shortage of books on our favourite pastime! Here's our latest selection of waterborne reads to get excited for...
We're back! Since a number of you have been checking in on our 'Top 10 Swim Adventure Books', we thought it was time to share our latest picks of swimming books that make us want to don our goggles and leap into any available patches of natural water.
In this blog, we've updated our previous list (in no particular order) with 10 new titles from fresh and inspiring authors, as well as a few familiar names, recognisable to seasoned members of the outdoor swimming community.
We've included online buying links below, but please remember to check availability at your local and independent bookshops to show them some support!
Now, enough of the pre-swim jitters - anyone ready for the plunge?
'The Beauty Of Cold' by Gilly McArthur
- Publisher: Welbeck / Headline Publishing Group
- UK publication: 21 May, 2026
For lovers of chillier waters - we know you're out there - McArthur's book on wellbeing and cold water swimming offers heartfelt insights on resilience, the restorative benefits of swimming and the importance of community. Swim through the winter season, straying off the common path to seek out goose-pimpled adventures and wildlife encounters. This is a great pick for readers who swim with emotion, relish time in nature and value the connection their sport enhances with other likeminded, wild water seekers.
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'Swimming With Seals' by Victoria Whitworth
Publisher: Apollo / Bloomsbury
UK publication: 13 May, 2021
Whitworth's memoir flows with the relatable focus of someone enamoured by water - drawn to the cold surrounds of Orkney, where seals flop, flourish and feed in abundance. The narrative delves into themes of grief, memory, loss and transformation, tangled with the history of this remote archipelago in Scotland's Northern Isles.
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'At The Pond: Swimming At The Hampstead Ladies' Pond' by multiple contributors, including Margaret Drabble, Esther Freud, Sophie Mackintosh, Deborah Moggach and Leanne Shapton
Publisher: Daunt Books
UK publication: 20 June, 2019
This anthology of writing takes us to leafy Hampstead Heath, where London's best-kept secret - Kenwood Ladies' Bathing Pond - offers a secluded and unique swimming experience. Different writers share their own immersions in this women-only space, promoting community, inclusivity and a joyful pond culture that serves as a reprieve from the city's claustrophobic bustle.
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'Splash! 10,000 Years of Swimming' by Howard Means
Publisher: Atlantic Books
UK publication: 1 July, 2021
Our first history book of the collection, taking us back through the Middle Ages and the buoyant Renaissance to the swimmers of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. This is a great read for anyone interested in swimming history and culture, as well as those who are simply intrigued by how old this activity really is - as old, apparently, as the rock artists of the Saharan 'Cave Of Swimmers'.
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'The Tidal Year' by Freya Bromley
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
UK publication: 9 May, 2024
This award-winning memoir (shortlisted for the Nero Book Awards 2023) follows Bromley as she grieves the loss of her brother and travels to swim various tidal pools across the British Isles, joined by her friend Miri. It's an intimate and honest book, soaked in saltwater, exploring the process of healing, sisterhood, nature and optimism.
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'Swimming Sydney: A Tale Of 52 Swims' by Chris Baker
Publisher: UNSW Press / NewSouth
Publication: 1 November, 2024
One for our warm water enthusiasts (you're definitely out there), Baker undertakes 52 enriching swims around surfside Sydney over the course of a calendar year. For sheer variety of swims, this book is hard to beat - packed with beaches, harbour enclosures, municipal pools and the kind of enviable sea pools that make you stop and stare in disbelief.
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'The Outdoor Swimmers' Handbook' by Kate Rew
Publisher: Rider / Penguin Random House
UK Publication: 9 June, 2022
Who better to lead us through the practical and philosophical side of outdoor swimming than founder of the 'Outdoor Swimming Society', Kate Rew? This book brings over a decade and a half of wild swimming experience to the fore, sharing stories and insights from a Deakin-inspired community that keeps growing in membership every year.
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'Blue Mind' by Wallace J. Nichols
Publisher: Little, Brown
Publication: 9 June, 2022
Why does water have such a calming effect on us? And, why do we pay so much money for houses with even a slither of a sea view? Nichols explores the psychological and neurological relationship between humans and water, examining the powerful 'blue mind' state that makes so many of us talk like zealous swimming evangelists.
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'These Heavy Black Bones'
Publisher: Canongate Books
UK Publication: 6 June, 2024
We were excited to read this award-winning book after our interview with Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell - a double British Champion who also made the Great Britain Olympic team. After growing up swimming in Kenya, Achieng Ajulu-Bushell found her calling in pristine pool lanes and by age 15 she was the world number one in the 50-metre breaststroke. This inspiring book explores the toll elite swimming took on her both physically and psychologically, shining a light on racism and toxic power dynamics within competitive sport.
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'How to Hero: Find Strength, Forge Resilience and Fulfil Your Purpose' by Ross Edgeley
Publisher: Sphere / Little, Brown Book Group
UK Publication: 8 October, 2026
Finally, this book was only available to pre-order at the time this blog was written. We haven't read it, but our excitement for the sheer epic nature of this adventure is the reason it made our list. Edgely wrote the book during his epic 1000-mile swim around the coast of Iceland, weaving in Nordic mythology, sports psychology and tales of heroism and endurance. Along the way, he also braved freezing waters, wild orca encounters and the kind of North Atlantic swells that turn boats into playthings.
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