Tough Girl Podcast Lindsey Cole - Adventuring with ADHD, Swimming the length of the River Thames as a Mermaid & Swimming with Strangers!
In Lindsey’s words…
I’ve just finished cycling around Britain, connecting with wild swimmers.
Since mermaiding the Thames I have absolutely fallen in love with wild swimming. It makes me feel magically alive and I’ve never known such a welcoming, heart warming community quite like it. I received messages from all over the UK inviting me to swim with them. So, of course I made a plan.
In February, I cycled from Devon to the inaugural Scottish Winter Swimming Championship in Taymouth Marina and connected with wild swimmers en route. It was only meant to be for two weeks, but I was so high on adrenalin for that fortnight that I decided to carry on. And six months later, I finally hung up my dipping cossie and parked my bike
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
— MARK TWAIN
Show notes
- Catching up with Lindsey
- Being based in Bristol for now
- Who is Lindsey!
- Being nomadic and loving the journey of life
- Having issues with commitment
- Being an Urban Mermaid
- Deciding to swim the length of the Thames
- Planning and preparation….
- Plastic pollution….
- Going to San Fransisco and deciding to swim from Alcatraz from to SF Bay
- Earning money and the types of jobs she does
- Being flown out to SF by Uber
- Living in Spain
- Deciding to swim the River Thames in November…..
- Being sick and not being able to keep food down
- How she acclimatised for the swim…
- 22 days to swim the Thames
- How the accommodation side of things worked
- Working with a small budget!
- The mental side of the challenge
- Why movement is so important
- Rescuing a cow in the River Thames
- Swimming with the Mermaid Tail
- Having no plans for after the swim
- Trying to put down routes
- How the idea for the next challenges came about
- UK Cold Water Swimming Championships
- Deciding to cycle to Scotland
- Swimming twice a day on the 2 week journey unto Scotland
- How 2 weeks turned into 6 months
- Swimming with over 1000 people!!
- What it was like being out on the road
- The kindness of strangers
- The challenges of being on the rode and being so free
- Having some chill time in the bath
- Teaching English on-line
- Unleashing who she really is in writing
- Living with ADHD
- How she manages her ADHD
- Settling down??
- Where in the world would you most like to go?
- Why she picked Bristol….
- Meeting a boy….
- Quick Fire Questions
- A book on swimming….
Social Media
Website - https://www.lindseycole.co.uk
Instagram - @stompycole