Debbie Croydon: The open water swimming coach who set up Soul Swimmers

The Outdoors Fix is a podcast to inspire you to make the outdoors a bigger part of your life. It’s hosted by Liv Bolton. Debbie Croydon found a deep love of swimming in open water later in life and she’s working hard to encourage women, particularly from Black and Asian communities, to give it a go too. Debbie’s a swimming teacher, an open water coach and triathlon coach - she’s also the co-founder of the community swimming group, Soul Swimmers. Set up in 2020, the group aims to encourage more women from diverse backgrounds to take up swimming, particularly outdoors in open water. Debbie’s based in London and she’s also a triathlete who has competed for Team GB in the World Championships for triathlon in her age category of 60-64! Debbie and I met back in the summer and chatted by the shores of the West Reservoir in London, an open water swimming reservoir. I wanted to find out how Debbie found her love of open water swimming, what sparked the idea to set up Soul Swimmers, and why she’s determined to see more women from diverse backgrounds enjoying a dip outdoors. Debbie shares her tips for open water swimming at the end of the episode, so make sure you don’t miss her advice. There’s also a minute of the sounds of nature at the end for a little bit of escapism in your busy day. I hope you enjoy the episode and please feel free to rate and review it, or tell your friends about it! Liv x The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk You’ll find Debbie on Instagram @debcroydon and Soul Swimmers @soulswimmers.uk You can find photos of our recording on Instagram @TheOutdoorsFix The Outdoors Fix book is now available to pre-order: http://bit.ly/3GJDLJc This episode of The Outdoors Fix is kindly supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell. Merrell are offering listeners of The Outdoors Fix a 20% off discount on their shoes at Merrell.co.uk So just use the code FIX20 which is valid on all full price items on their website.