Calum Hudson describes how wild swimming has reconnected him to his childhood passion and nature and his excitement at taking on the “big, iconic” Swim Serpentine, which falls on his birthday in 2023.
Calum is no stranger to adventurous open water swimming. Along with his brothers, some of his feats include swimming from Europe to Asia, braving the Arctic Circle and crossing four of the world’s strongest maelstroms – all which have been captured in his thrilling social media films.
What inspired you to take part in Swim Serpentine and what are you looking forward to about the day?
“It has definitely become one of those big iconic swims in quite a short space of time, which usually happens because of really incredible word of mouth. I’ve heard from past colleagues, friends of friends that have done it and had an amazing time and swimmers in the community.
“It’s a really iconic venue and I’ve always loved swimming at the Serpentine. I’ve swam there in winter, even when you’ve had to break the ice, and for nice summer swims when you’re bobbing up and there’s a moorhen’s nest on one of the buoys. It feels like one of those big iconic swims to do so I’m just really excited.”
What would you say to someone who is nervous about open water swimming and the benefits?
“I would say, often the reasons that they are nervous are actually the biggest benefits. It is kind of being freed from that indoor environment, that chlorinated environment and swimming outdoors in nature brings with it a whole different feeling outside of the sport, the exercise and the fitness element.
“It’s a gift to yourself to free yourself from the shackles of urban or concrete pool or environment and you’ll feel that liberation and freedom of swimming outdoors. It’s just a completely different feeling than swimming in a pool. Once people start outdoor swimming, so many struggle to go back to the indoor, soupy, chlorinated environment.”
What benefits do you feel personally?
“There are three main areas. Obviously, there are the physical benefits. Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise for low impact, low stress on your body. It’s a full body work out, as you’re working every single muscle, and it’s good for the heart, it’s good for the lungs, it’s good for the actual muscle structure, so there are lots of physical benefits.
“There are also huge mental health benefits – and these are being more and more documented over the years as the anecdotal evidence from cold water swimming, which you’re only going to get from outdoors, starts to become scientific.
“It’s that stress response from going into cold water that stimulates the nervous system, sends the central immune system into overdrive and also the reheating afterwards is incredibly good for your body. It’s simulating that vital fight or flight response – that can help with stress and anxiety – people who suffer from this say the cold stops the negative thoughts and then there’s the feel of the water too.
“And thirdly, I feel a big benefit from being in nature. A lot of people who do Swim Serpentine may come from London or a similar city, so to have that connection with nature or the outdoors is really important. People experience it less and less, so it can be quite freeing – and those three areas combined add up to give you quite a unique activity.”
How did you get into open water swimming? What’s your journey been like?
“I grew up in the Lake District, so you don’t really have that much of an option. You don’t have a local nightclub; you have a local lake. It’s an incredibly rural area.
“I was also lucky enough to have swimming lessons at school. Every kid in the village could swim and we just went to a local river or a swim spot at a lake – it was never known as recreational, or wild swimming, it was just a normal thing to do when you grow up there.
“My parents used to take us on holiday to Scotland a lot and we used to swim in the cold sea there, so it felt really natural. Then when you grow up and you start to do the things that you did as a kid less, and you go to uni, get a job and live in a city, like I was, I felt less connected with my childhood and the things that I enjoyed. So, I hatched this plan in 2014 with my little brother Jack and my big brother Robbie to swim our childhood river, which is the River Eden in Cumbria, which is 145km, which we swam over nine days, and that was basically the real catalyst for going on this outdoor swimming journey.
“It’s been a decade long experiment of a family holiday gone wrong. Then our mum came and joined us for 500m and our dad sprinted in and swam, I’m going say less than mum (sorry dad!), about 100m, so it became this big family benefit.”
What has been your journey since, especially the filmmaking side?
“We went up to the Arctic Circle into Arctic Norway and swam across the Moskstraumen and Saltstraumen, which are these two big maelstroms with whirlpools and currents. We saw the world’s largest jellyfish, the Lion’s mane jellyfish, which can be up to 32 meters long. Things we never thought we’d be doing!
“We swam from Europe to Asia across the Hellespont, did an 18km swim in Malaysia and lots of ice miles, which is swimming a distance under a certain degree – when it gets to January February, when the water gets to four or five degrees, doing a mile there.
“Filming and documenting it has become part of the journey. One of the huge benefits of living in a world of social media and the internet means it’s very easy to find a community of people who enjoy that.
“It has become really fun, documenting the journey, sharing them and then meeting people who love it as well. Every one of our friends and family, whether they like it or not, has been roped into a swim at some point.
What tips/advice would you give to people new to open water swimming?
“Don’t do it on your own. So much of my journey has been doing it with my big brother and little brother and bringing in family and friends, my fiancée Serena [Edgehill], especially if you’re nervous, sign up with a friend.
“The nerves will be less, then you’ve got someone to talk to, train with, to motivate you and on the day you’ve got someone to share the memories. Don’t do it alone.”
Follow Calum’s swimming journey with his brothers here and look out for him at 2023 Swim Serpentine, where he’ll be taking on the two-mile distance.
