As the chill of open waters beckons, Steph Ramsay (she/they), the inspiring co-founder of the Hideous Swim Society, joins us to talk a bit about ice swims and their unexpected delights.
Our conversation, steeped in the biting embrace of waters below five degrees Celsius, unveils Steph's transformative journey from a tentative swimmer to a powerhouse who finds solace and strength in the harsh yet rewarding climes of competitive ice swimming.
She shares not only the exhilaration that comes with defying the cold but also the meticulous mental and physical fortitude required to master such a feat. Together, we reminisce about the sensation of swimming butterfly stroke.
Taking a breath to reflect inward, we dive into the profound ways swimming serves as a catalyst for healing and personal growth. I opened up about my transformative swims, and Steph talked about Loch Lomond, which offered a haven for meditation and self-discovery.
Our discussion celebrates the community we both have nurtured; one that encourages swimmers of all levels to plunge into self-improvement and find camaraderie in the collective splash.
The water becomes more than a physical space—it's a conduit for self-confidence and a testament to the power of supportive environments where every triumph, no matter the scale, is met with genuine enthusiasm.
This episode finishes with an affectionate salute to the global tapestry of open-water swimming communities that have flourished in the post-pandemic world. From the icy plunge pools of Alberta to the adventurous swims around the Isle of Wight, we traverse the spectrum of swimming experiences that unite individuals across different walks of life.
Steph and I share reflections on how this shared passion transcends physical boundaries, fostering connections and an appreciation for life's deeper currents.
The stories we've gathered on the RAWW Podcast illuminate the unwavering spirit of Waterwomen globally.
I extend an invitation to Waterwomen to join as a guest on the RAWW Podcast—because every splash, every stroke, is a story waiting to be told.
To reach Steph & Hideous Swim Society:
IG click here
Website click here
As the chill of open waters beckons, Steph Ramsay (she/they), the inspiring co-founder of the Hideous Swim Society, joins us to talk a bit about ice swims and their unexpected delights.
Our conversation, steeped in the biting embrace of waters below five degrees Celsius, unveils Steph's transformative journey from a tentative swimmer to a powerhouse who finds solace and strength in the harsh yet rewarding climes of competitive ice swimming.
She shares not only the exhilaration that comes with defying the cold but also the meticulous mental and physical fortitude required to master such a feat. Together, we reminisce about the sensation of swimming butterfly stroke.
Taking a breath to reflect inward, we dive into the profound ways swimming serves as a catalyst for healing and personal growth. I opened up about my transformative swims, and Steph talked about Loch Lomond, which offered a haven for meditation and self-discovery.
Our discussion celebrates the community we both have nurtured; one that encourages swimmers of all levels to plunge into self-improvement and find camaraderie in the collective splash.
The water becomes more than a physical space—it's a conduit for self-confidence and a testament to the power of supportive environments where every triumph, no matter the scale, is met with genuine enthusiasm.
This episode finishes with an affectionate salute to the global tapestry of open-water swimming communities that have flourished in the post-pandemic world. From the icy plunge pools of Alberta to the adventurous swims around the Isle of Wight, we traverse the spectrum of swimming experiences that unite individuals across different walks of life.
Steph and I share reflections on how this shared passion transcends physical boundaries, fostering connections and an appreciation for life's deeper currents.
The stories we've gathered on the RAWW Podcast illuminate the unwavering spirit of Waterwomen globally.
I extend an invitation to Waterwomen to join as a guest on the RAWW Podcast—because every splash, every stroke, is a story waiting to be told.
To reach Steph & Hideous Swim Society:
IG click here
Website click here
Welcome everybody back to Raw podcast. If you have literally not dove into here yet, Raw stands for Rad Active Water Women. I brought this podcast to life because I am a water woman too and I'm building empowering communities for water women through podcasting, swim coaching and retreats as well. Today I have a fantastic guest, as always, someone who loves the water and is across the world from Canmar in the UK and I came across. Her name is Steph, but I came across the group on Instagram and it really caught my curiosity and it's called Hideous Swim Society and Steph. You can correct me if that is something different, but I'm pretty sure Hideous Swim Society. So I want to welcome Steph.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much and thank you for having me. You're absolutely correct. Hideous Swim Society is exactly who we are.
Speaker 2:I love it and it's funny stuff. When I first saw it, I looked at the name and I was like I had to take a double take and I was like I really need to look into this. It caught my curiosity. So good name on your front.
Speaker 1:So exactly what we were hoping it would then.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I was like Hideous Swim, what's hideous about swimming? And then I was like I looked into it further and I was like, oh yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1:So who are?
Speaker 2:you, Steph.
Speaker 1:Okay, so me is Steph. I am someone who grew up swimming. I was very reluctant for a year old on poolside, who was always fiddling with their goggles and didn't want to play, but I then got into the competition scene and then I moved on to artistic swimming and since lockdown I've also been open water and ice swimming. And then I'm also part of Hideous. So Hideous Swim Society is a joint venture between me and my partner T. He grew up in Finland. She's been around sort of lake and sauna culture her entire life, but she only got into swimming and learning how to swim back in 2017. And Hideous was born shortly after that, out of the idea that those swims that look the most hideous to start with often turn out to be the most fun.
Speaker 2:I love it and can you tell everybody who's listening right now? Stuff and I just want to know for myself too is what is something that you've done recently that's been that hideous swim? What is something you're working on?
Speaker 1:So good question, and it's not perhaps as an immediate answer as I'd like to give, because Hideous Swims are sort of those swims that an official Hideous Swim is, one that sort of puts a fear of gold in you, and yet you go ahead and you do it anywhere and you get to the end of the day. That was amazing. I never thought I could do it. So I've had a few swims recently that perhaps wouldn't count as hideous in themselves because they didn't put that same level of fear in that thing. But I guess I'm recently back from the European Ice Swimming Championships, which was a pretty fantastic experience.
Speaker 2:And stuff. When you're doing those like the ice swimming, which I think like kudos to you, Holy, like what is the temperature of the water?
Speaker 1:So ice swimming is a tiny bit of a misnomer. The water doesn't necessarily have to be frozen, it can be, as so it's five degrees and below for official reasons, for official competitions and events, and it's channel swimming rules as far as swimwear is concerned. So you've just got your basic hat and costume and earplugs, no neoprene, no extra coverage.
Speaker 2:Wow, you are one brave soul. That's amazing. And so what strokes are you doing and like what kind of distances when you do ice swimming?
Speaker 1:So I have never been a sprinter, which means that I tend to take on the longer distance events. So more recently, like at the Europeans, I was doing the kilometer freestyle and then I also jumped in on the fly events because butterfly is just absolutely the best stroke and you'll find in here it tends to be quite a lot of butterfly, because it's just such an enjoyable thing to be doing.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love it. It's funny you say that stuff because I've taken literally the plunge to do butterfly this year for like competitions and I love it. It's like so hard and very humbling, but yet it's so much fun.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely. And the further the distances you do, you just get into this rhythm where you're no longer pounding up and down the pool. You just find this rhythm and it goes and it just feels really lovely. And sometimes, if you can translate that into the scene, you catch a wave and it's like I'm a dolphin and it's just. There's something really beautiful about it.
Speaker 2:I love that perspective. Next time I'm doing that, I'm going to pretend I'm a dolphin. I love it. I'm only in the pool right now. But yeah, butterfly just has this beautiful, powerful, yet sexy way of swimming Like I don't know how else to explain it, but that's how I would and so that's amazing. And then you're taking it to the next level, where you're doing this in those cold temperatures. So how do you warm up for something like that, or do you Like? How does that work when you're entering into a race? I'm curious.
Speaker 1:Ah, it's the first time that I've. That's a lie. It's not the first time I've competed in ice swimming, but it's quite a recent thing. The actual process on poolside is the strangest thing. You're stood there with your dry robe on and some nice official will shout at you take your clothes off. You have this moment and go what earth is happening? You then have to take your dry robe off and get in the pool in about two seconds. The warming up happened somewhat before then. I guess I warm up for it the same way as I would for anything else. I would do a land warm-up. We were super lucky this time. We had access to an indoor pool and a wholly inadequate sauna, but it was a warm ashram to get into afterwards. Wow.
Speaker 2:I'm curious too when I watch this. I'm pretty sure I've seen some of your videos that you posted. I noticed nobody dives.
Speaker 1:Is that?
Speaker 2:for safety. That's what I was curious about.
Speaker 1:I compete under ISA, which is the International Ice Swimming Association. It's one of the governing bodies. I don't know about other governing bodies. You can't dive, you can't tumble, turn no more than five metres under water. It's partly safety, partly because they want the pool competitions to be as similar to the open water as possible. There's only so much you can replicate in a 50-metre pool. They're trying to take out the advantage you might get from the diving or underwater transition.
Speaker 2:That totally makes sense. Thanks for sharing that. That's a learning moment there. Thank you, I had no idea when I watched it. I was like I want to versus safety. That totally makes sense. You're an open water swimmer as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what might be turned a lockdown convert. I was like, oh, the swimming pool is in the UK and I needed to swim.
Speaker 2:I found a lake. Good for you. I found a river. One day you need to come out to Canada and I'll take you into the glacier lakes. That would be incredible. They're cold, but it's so beautiful. One day I'm going to stay on track here because I could just keep going. I have another question for you, Steph. Where and how did the love of water come into your life?
Speaker 1:That's a good question. Like I said, I grew up in swim competitions. It's something that was always there. I don't know whether I understood that I loved it or whether it was just something that was always there. It just always happened. I guess I really loved I perhaps loved the artistic swimming more as a kid than I did the swimming, swimming and learning how to manipulate your body and water and to do these absolutely impossible looking things and the joy that being in team routines brought. But then, I guess, lockdown came and I really began to appreciate how integral it was to my life. I've had a few years out by choice. I had quite that accident and just didn't get back into the water for a while and that. But the moment it was forced to be taken away I began to appreciate it so much more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it's like when that thing that gives you that joy in your life gets taken away. It's good for you for bringing that back in and bringing it in in some of the beautiful ways it's been really lovely to rediscover what and in a way where you're properly appreciating what's going on. Yeah, so next question how has swimming helped you move through stress or something that you're healing through in your life?
Speaker 1:Oh, so I'm massively behind on blog articles for the Hiddiest website and this sort of encapsulates. Part of one of them Congratulations on the mind reading. I'm good at that sometimes. So it's done lots of things and I don't have one great big story, but I've got a couple of small ones and I'll try and keep them on track.
Speaker 1:But I think I've always struggled with or I've historically struggled with meditation, things like that, and there's sort of properly stopping to just sitting there with your thoughts. I have found that some training since I came back in 2016,. And you're plowing up and down, you've got a set, you've got to turn around time and you just give yourself over entirely to that training session. You emerge an hour later and you've moved on and issues are no longer the same size they were. So I've it's helped in that respect and that it provided that sort of quiet space for me to exist and not let the world overtake. And the bit I mentioned for the blog post is I swam Loch Lomond in Scotland this year, which context is a 35 kilometer lake. Wow, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Congratulations.
Speaker 1:Thank you. 12 hours overnight sensory deprivation Really high. But it was amazing because if you speak to a channel swimmers, for example, they'll say that the distance they're swimming isn't that bad. That bigger challenge it's the mental side of things and so I sort of went into this swim going. I am going to find out at the end, by the end of the swim, what my demons are and what I've not been dealing with. And actually it's really really good incentive to get your house in order before you get in the water and make sure that the things you've not been dealing with you you sort of you come to make peace with. And it was amazing to get out the water at the end of that that to a bow and be absolutely exhausted and go. Nothing came to get me.
Speaker 2:And were you able to like release some of those demons as you swam?
Speaker 1:It was the training in the time up to it and the reflection that it was necessary for me to do in the months before it meant that actually there was a real peacefulness actually to spending that time alone in the water.
Speaker 2:That's incredible. It's amazing what swimming and just being in the water, how healing it is and how you can move through different things in your life. It gives you that peacefulness to move through it. And I don't know how you feel, but when you're swimming do you find it hard to worry about things?
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, yeah, it's like that moving meditation Exactly. You're wholly committing yourself to that time in the water and it's a way of coming home, no matter where you are.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's so true. Yeah, I like that. Say that again. What are you just said?
Speaker 1:It's a way of coming home, no matter where you are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, it's got chills. That's like it's so true and yeah, and like even you've got me thinking about something too. It's like thanks for sharing that journey, and for yourself, and it's like, I think, for other people when you see them swimming, no matter what it is, people are all moving through something, right, and I'm sure you see that with the society, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, I mean that's. We created the Queens of Hedia Swim series specifically to celebrate people overcoming mostly swims, but whatever headspace they needed to work through to make those swims possible.
Speaker 2:I love that. That's beautiful, and thanks for creating that space for humans out there. Thanks for the questions you just needed. So, yeah, thank you. I'm just going to move on to another question what was one of your best memories you've ever had, and if you could tell us a little bit about that? It can be related to swimming, if that's where you want to take it.
Speaker 1:Oh God, there's a question, yes, sort of related to swimming, sort of related to hideous. I don't know if it's a best memory, but it's certainly a strong memory and that's I went to the gay games in 2018 in Paris. She's what was the gay Olympics? We weren't allowed to use the words in other gay games and I was. I walked up to a swimmer on poolside and said, like I saw, you did the 200 fly. Pretty sure you couldn't swim fly six weeks ago. That was amazing Congratulations. And she just turned around about it Some people have been through worse like it's fine and that was key and that was the start of our relationship as a friendship. That then became hideous and was a very strong moment as things being put into perspective.
Speaker 2:Oh well, thanks for sharing that. That's only a great memory. So next question how does water, like with your swimming, build your self-confidence and self-esteem? And what would you tell, like other water women that are listening to us right now, if they're feeling like less confident or their self-esteem is low when they maybe show up on the pool deck to a swim squad or just you know, getting into swimming or back into swimming after being a parent for years and just you know, now they're entering that again.
Speaker 1:Promise this in the sales pitch, but there'll be a bit of hideous philosophy, I think.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I don't mind. Yes, okay, it can be a sales pitch. I just mentioned some hideous philosophy, which is effectively to do what works for you. Whenever we do lots and lots of butterfly swim sessions and we do it with people like myself and Tee, who are super confident with fly and can happily swim 400 meters in one go to people that can just about do 25 if they work really hard, and it's like start on fly, it's like first stroke, last stroke. What happens in between is between you and the water. Do what works for you, do what feels right and if you want to give it a go, give it a go, and I think I don't know how it is for you guys.
Speaker 1:In Canada, but certainly in the UK, since lockdown we've seen a massive surge in open water swimming and it's absolutely amazing because pool decks can be a bit homogenous. You walk up to the pool side, you see a lot of similar looking people. You walk up to the lakeside and there's all of these different bodies and all of these different ages and backgrounds and experiences and you get the swimplers in their willy hats who just do head up breaststroke, and you get the triathletes and they're all in the same place doing what works for them, and it's just such a brilliant thing to see. So the space exists, and absolutely take hold of it.
Speaker 2:I love that and, steph, I have to agree, like in the UK there's so much and I'm seeing it and I think it's. I'm a swimmer too and I love the water, but like it's incredible to see from afar the communities and you're right, it's from you know, people just do breaststroke and it's the same in Australia too. My husband's from there and I was there not long ago and it's very similar. So it must be to do with the sea and the lot of water right In Canmore and Alberta. It's not the same, but that's what I'm building, what I'm trying to build here in our own way because, like, our winters are much different compared to you. Where you may be wet, we get the cold right, so we have ice holes that we dip into in the river that are 0.8. So it's different. But the community, you're right. Yeah, thanks for sharing. That's beautiful.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and I would say that having just come back from Finland and jumped into the 0.8 or similar ice holes so on, is great, but also I'm sure that the ice holes can build community as well. You get a certain sort of person that wants to come and experience that.
Speaker 2:It's yes, it's interesting. It's almost like I don't know if you notice this, and I think it's with swimmers too, but it's almost like a common language. It's like once you do it, then it's this community and it's like chatter and it's like there's so much energy there and no worry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, have you been to this place? Have you done this thing? Have you met, have you? Oh, and I did that one and all of the costume.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly no, no judgment at all. Right, it's beautiful.
Speaker 1:I'm not great at talking to people I don't know necessarily, but I have walked up to so many random strangers and said, oh, I love your costume and they have a great time. They respond really positively. People have done it to me and it's yeah, you've yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2:I had to come over and visit sometime. I think I've been called to the UK. My mom's from the UK, so I have some roots there, but I feel like I need a trip there soon to experience what you what happens?
Speaker 1:More than welcome to come join a hideous adventure. Swim Sounds amazing. We're also setting up at the moment.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's amazing. And what kind of event is it?
Speaker 1:So the hideous adventure swims are independently planned, little swims. So responses at pray for hope. We are looking at doing one on the Isle of Wight, which is a little island off of England, in the summer this year and we were walking along the cliff tops, looked at rock formation called the needles and went we could swim through that. We could work out how to do that ourselves. So we're just going to go for those, swim in a picnic on the other side and work out where to go from there.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we'll work with the locals to get knowledge of the tides and that sort of thing. And yeah, we'll just set off as a group of swimmers and see what happens.
Speaker 2:It's amazing and how can people find out more about this? They're like oh, this sounds amazing. Can they just find that on Instagram and your website? Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1:We are at Hidios Swim Society on Instagram and underscores between each of those, and then we are at Hidiosco as a website.
Speaker 2:Amazing and I'll add that into the show notes so everybody can find that as well. So a couple more questions. We're still going. What has water, like in swimming, taught you to infuse into everyday life? Off and the water.
Speaker 1:Ah. So again we come back to Hidios. So my Hidios Swim was not any one event. My Hidios Swim was learning how to swim with kindness and to not do what I'd done all the way through it as a kid and as an athlete, which was just keep going and keep going and don't listen to your body and don't sort of question the system, just keep going, and it'd be great. So to learn to swim with kindness was to then take a step back and really make evaluations of what I was going to do and why I was going to do it. What is the point of this? And maybe there is a good point and, okay, we like this, there's a purpose, we shall pursue it. And sometimes there isn't, so maybe we don't, and so that's been hugely valuable to bring across into all parts of my life.
Speaker 2:I love that swim with kindness that resonates, and it will resonate with a lot of people that are listening to us right now too. So thanks for sharing that stuff.
Speaker 1:I need to take his quite right. Do you thought I needed taking in hand, which is quite right?
Speaker 2:I have some fast kind of fast ish fun questions for you to finish it off. Okay, do you have a mantra quote that you live by, and if so, what is it? What is it? Can you remember it?
Speaker 1:When I need things put in perspective, I go back to what he said on poolside that some people have been through worse, and it puts me back in perspective.
Speaker 2:Love it. Thank you for sharing Three favorite places you love to swim.
Speaker 1:The summer cottage that we went to in Finland last summer, which is just incredible. The Isles of Silly, which are little islands off the coast of Cornwall in England, and La Santa in I forgot where it is Mallorca.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, that sounds awesome. Do you have any post rituals after swimming?
Speaker 1:Either to go directly to sauna if it's been a cold swim, or to complain loudly about the lack of sauna.
Speaker 2:One thing you would like to master out of the water.
Speaker 1:I am working really slowly at learning Finnish and I would like to be able to listen to a whole conversation without needing an interpreter.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. I like that. What's in your swim bag?
Speaker 1:My entire life. That's genuine, because I got to a point where it was easier just to put my work stuff in my swim bag than it was to try and do anything else. So my life is in my swim bag, beautiful.
Speaker 2:Are there any women out there that you admire most, and why?
Speaker 1:Oh, I am going to forget to name drop all the right people, just one, just try it. In which case I was slightly cheap because I know that you've already met her and Sophie Etheridge, not only for her channel crossing recently and setting the record for the slowest ever channel, but the incredible work that she's doing at the moment with the adaptive and disabled open water Summers group, increasing the access for disabled Summers and increasing the education for disabled and able-bodied teachers and coaches to make sure that more people have got access to the water.
Speaker 2:And then last question Thanks for sharing that. I loved meeting Sophie. She made me smile. What is the most like one of the most important challenges you think that women are facing today, or women that identify as a woman as well In the UK?
Speaker 1:I mean, wow, I would say breaking down things about intersystems, systemic issues that we are starting to recognize exist, but we are slower to be able to break down and look at differently.
Speaker 2:Thank you for sharing Last question. I lied about that. What brings you the most amount of joy in your life?
Speaker 1:Oh, that seems really tried to say swimming butterfly.
Speaker 2:It's, whatever it is for you. Maybe it's something today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're going to go for that. I love the different things that's brought me, the connections it's made, the sessions that we run, seeing the development that people have and spending time with some really fabulous people.
Speaker 2:So that's amazing, the butterfly.
Speaker 1:The butterfly effect.
Speaker 2:The butterfly effect. I love it. Well, steph, thank you so much for being on Raw Podcast, for sharing your story or journey and my fast, fun questions at the end.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me. It's been an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2:Thank you, steph, for being a guest on Raw Podcast. I loved just hearing your stories about swimming, your passion behind that and about the Hidia Swim Society Just fantastic. Thank you so much for being a guest and I look forward to crossing paths in the water out of the water one day very soon. If you wanna reach out to the Hidia Swim Society and Steph, you can go there on Instagram I will share it in the show notes for you.
Speaker 2:Raw Podcast is all about building and powering communities for water women across the globe and there'll be so many incredible guests coming on and so many have said yes, so thank you to every one of you. If you're one of those water women out there and you're like, oh, I would love to be on this podcast, reach out to me. I would love to hear from you to continue to spread the world and empowering incredible water women across the world. Thank you everybody for listening to Raw Podcast. Please send us a like through Spotify or iTunes or leave a comment on there. This really helps us get out into the world more. Have a beautiful rest of your week. Thanks for joining Raw Podcast.