Meet our fabulous Swim the Lakes family; a caring and experienced bunch of outdoor professionals, hand-picked for their values and personal qualities that make up an extremely effective team. A long time ago (nearly 20 years now), we were shocked at the lack of provision for welcoming and informative advice for your average outdoor swimmer. We decided there and then to become the friendly face of open water swimming.
We wanted to offer honest advice, to sell kit that works and to introduce swimmers to our unique style of what we called Adventure Swimming, in a safe and inclusive way. Although we are constantly learning and adapting what we do, our swimmers tell us that that is what we have achieved – we see this as our biggest success story. It is what motivates us to go to work every day. So, thanks for the feedback, everyone.
Our team of swim guides and shop staff underpin everything we do and we’re very proud of them. We want to tell you a bit about them so that you can fully appreciate them too. So here they are:
Swim the Lakes, Swim Guides
The sign of a good swim guiding team is that everything always seems to be flowing smoothly, every potential risk is mitigated with before it comes a danger, everyone is looked after and is included and hopefully having fun. Oh, and they carry the hot chocolate and cake!
All of our guides are fully qualified and very experienced in a number of outdoor disciplines, not least of which is outdoor swimming. They are all lifeguards and lifeguard instructors, coaches, mountain leaders and experienced outdoor first aiders and have been for many years. They are used to taking groups out into all kinds of conditions and environments and looking after them well. Most of them are also very proficient paddlers, which is important to us as most of our safety cover is provided by canoe or kayak.
Pete Kelly
Pete in some remote tarn
Pete is our Adventure Swim Director and is what you would describe as a professional outdoorsman, he’s been working with groups in the outdoors most of his life, he is very experienced in group management and safety and has a keen sense for group cohesiveness and enjoyment. You can see how much he enjoys leading trips and its obvious our guests just love his company too. He leads our guide in-house training programme and is the chairman of our local RLSS Lifesaving Club.
Pete’s an extremely proficient paddler (kayak and open boat) and competed for British team as a youth. He swims all year round and guides most of our swims, and he knows the Lake District like the back of his hand, as its waters and fells are his habitat. He recently published a book called Wild Swimming Walks, Lake District, which he will be delighted to sign if you buy one.
Andrea Kelly
Andrea enjoying the Upper Esk
Andrea is our marketing and development guru; she develops the swim programme and promotes them for customers (she’s the brains behind the operation!). She loves to guide the swims when she can and it’s always a pleasure to have her along. She’s an expert wetsuit fitter too and keeps the shop, our lovely staff, and website in order, which is no mean feat. Giving what the customer wants is one of her mantra’s and she’s always got your back.
Sarah Knight
Sazzle – always happy!
Sarah is our Head Guide and has been working alongside Pete for the past 10 years and is his right hand woman. She has a background in corporate leadership development and has excellent outdoor group management skills. Sarah probably swims more than anyone on the team (she’s got gills!) and clearly loves being in the water with our clients and has an uncanny knack of always finding the sunniest spot on the bank, post-swim!
Steve Tonkin
Steve in his element
Steve is our Chief Guide and is a Cornish beach lifeguard (he lives in the Lakes now, but you never stop being a ‘Guard). He is a big fella, extremely capable and affable and is the man you want beside you if you suddenly find yourself a bit un-nerved by the conditions. Steve also works as a first responder and is an enthusiastic contributor to our regular guide training sessions.
Jacqui Young
Jacqui guides for us every now and then as she has a proper job as well as running her own business called Waterwise Cumbria. She is a fundamental part of our in-house guide training programme because of her long standing experience as a RLSS Trainer-Assessor. She has also spent many years on the Kendal mountain rescue team working with her search and rescue dog Fern. We all love working with Jacqui and she is great fun and adds a lot to our combined knowledge during training.
Alison Faulconbridge
Alison, giving it the Blue Steel.
You will normally encounter Alison ably paddling her canoe in support of our swimmers, dishing out the jelly babies. She is an exceptional paddler as well as being an extremely capable swimmer and guide. She is great fun to work with and takes great care of our swimmers.
Mike “Bill” Budd
Mike was a regular on our swims for many years and we jumped at the chance when he offered to help guide on our swims. He is a real gentleman and a legendary swimmer and provides a steady hand in supporting our swimmers. He answer to “Mike” or “Bill” and will always be found hiding at the back during team photos as he has an aversion to the camera!
Heidi Kearsley
Heidi on the rocks at the Milk Churn
Heidi is one of the fittest guides we know and competes to a high standard in swim-run events and comes to us following an interesting career in the Army on the dog team. A formidable swimmer, she is just as strong on the fell, so expect to see her guiding on our mountain swimming days on Helvellyn and Easedale.
Andy Beach
Andy – photo bomb mater!
Andy is one of our clients that we liked so much, we offered him a job! He is an experienced and capable sportsman and spends his spare time lifeguarding at Hathersage Lido and well as guiding for us. There is never a dull moment when Andy is on the team and he really knows how to support our clients, as he has been there himself.
Swim the Lakes, Shop Team
Therry Cooper
Therry on our Secret Britain Night Swim
Therry is an expert in fitting wetsuits and runs our Ambleside shop, she keeps the stock counts in check and always goes out of her way to help customers. An avid swimmer herself she has been known to crop up on some of the introduction courses and guided swims. We don’t know a nicer person than Therry and she makes the World’s Best Flapjack… yes, she’s a keeper!
Janet Frost
Janet with her lovely daughter, Amy
Janet is our Saturday girl and helps Therry out in the shop at the height of the season. She is also an enthusiastic regular on our swim trips and is an example to us all when it comes to our approach to life. She is a delight to have around and is one of our biggest fans, a sentiment we wholeheartedly share about her!
Ellie Merriman
Ellie enjoying Rydal Water!
Ellie is our Sunday girl and is a real outdoor athlete. Exceptionally bright and enthusiastic she looks after our Ambleside shop every Sunday. In between times, she is out there training and testing kit for our website reviews. Keep an eye out for her social media posts and website articles.
Jan Sutcliffe
Jan post winter dip
Jan works in the shop on Mondays and Fridays. She has an obvious love for swimming outdoors and a lovely way with our customers. Jan also writes many of our reviews and articles, so keep an eye out on our website for her very personal take on wild swimming and what it means to her.
Well, that’s all folks. We think it’s nice to know who you are speaking to at the end of the phone, or who is going to be looking after you on a swim. We hope this has entertained you and allowed you to get to know us a bit better?
We’ll look forward to seeing you in the shop, or in the water.
Find out more about Swim the Lakes here