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Wild Woman Swimming
Devon paramedic Lynne Roper began swimming outdoors in 2011 while recovering from a double mastectomy. Warm, funny and fearless, she was soon at the heart of The Outdoor Swimming Society, inspiring others to swim wild, `read water' and take educated risks as she did.
For five years, until a brain tumour made swimming and writing impossibly hard, Lynne recorded her adventures in over sixty wild waters.
By turns lyrical and adrenaline-fueled, solitary and communal, her diaries are a celebration of Dartmoor, the Devon coast and the close-knit communities that grow from a shared endeavour.
This book is for outdoor swimmers, nature lovers and all who prize the wild and free.
For five years, until a brain tumour made swimming and writing impossibly hard, Lynne recorded her adventures in over sixty wild waters.
By turns lyrical and adrenaline-fueled, solitary and communal, her diaries are a celebration of Dartmoor, the Devon coast and the close-knit communities that grow from a shared endeavour.
This book is for outdoor swimmers, nature lovers and all who prize the wild and free.
183 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
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191 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 25, 2019
It was Lynne Roper’s health that became the driving force behind her getting into the water. In 2011 after having had a double mastectomy she joined The Outdoor Swimming Society and really never looked back. Even though she was a late starter to the delights of wild swimming, she never really looked back and was soon an essential member of the society. She inspired many others to join and to learn just how to understand the complexities of river flows and currents off the coast of Devon. This journal is a record of the swims that she had with friends from the group and her dog, Honey. She was an all year swimmer, taking to the water in tors, ponds, rivers and reservoirs and even the odd quarry. Equally happy in bitterly cold waters in the winter as she was luxuriating in the silky smooth waters in rivers in the summer.
I grin through the constant rumble and hiss of crashing waves and foam, imbued with stormy energy.
Sadly this wonderful diary of a lady who wanted to spend as much time as possible in rivers and the sea was to be cut short by a brain tumour and she passed away in 2016. Roper was a paramedic and she never really thought of her self as a writer, but this book proves otherwise. She has a beautiful way of writing, razor-sharp perception coupled with wry humour. You feel the shock of the cold water too as she slips into the water and see the light as it reflects and flickers off the surface. We are only reading this book as her friend Tanya Shadrick collected her writings and took them to publishers. No one was interested, so she set up the Selkie Press and published it herself. I am so glad she did, as this is a beautiful book to read. 4.5 stars
I grin through the constant rumble and hiss of crashing waves and foam, imbued with stormy energy.
Sadly this wonderful diary of a lady who wanted to spend as much time as possible in rivers and the sea was to be cut short by a brain tumour and she passed away in 2016. Roper was a paramedic and she never really thought of her self as a writer, but this book proves otherwise. She has a beautiful way of writing, razor-sharp perception coupled with wry humour. You feel the shock of the cold water too as she slips into the water and see the light as it reflects and flickers off the surface. We are only reading this book as her friend Tanya Shadrick collected her writings and took them to publishers. No one was interested, so she set up the Selkie Press and published it herself. I am so glad she did, as this is a beautiful book to read. 4.5 stars
May 7, 2021
As I began this book this woman did not appeal. She, as I thought, was reckless. How wrong can you be? By the middle, and certainly at the end, I realised how special she was. She did have fears but overcame them. She pushed boundaries in every sense but not to ridiculous lengths. I certainly will be unlikely to ever be as skilled a swimmer as she was ( I’m a rubbish swimmer but like it) but, if I was, I would celebrate it.
The writing is poetic and not overdone. One sentence of alliteration appeared terrible but one sentence in a book can’t be bad. You can see all the places and experiences she does, so well described you could drink in the atmosphere and environment.
My attitude changed when she described her week training for surf life saving qualification. She was sooo funny.
What a wonderful woman who inspires us all, whether you swim or not.
The writing is poetic and not overdone. One sentence of alliteration appeared terrible but one sentence in a book can’t be bad. You can see all the places and experiences she does, so well described you could drink in the atmosphere and environment.
My attitude changed when she described her week training for surf life saving qualification. She was sooo funny.
What a wonderful woman who inspires us all, whether you swim or not.
July 17, 2023
I’ve been reading Lynn’s swimming diaries for months (which is the way to do it; slowly, at your leisure). I’m feeling a bit bereft now that the book won’t be my constant companion!
Lynn Roper was a wild swimmer who explored the Devon coast. She details her “aquamarine wanderings,” full of every shade of blue, green, gray, & copper. She describes solo swims and group outings, my favorite of which were Moon Gazey (full moon) swims with friends, followed by thermoses of piping hot beverages and small cakes. Sounds like heaven.
She was almost always accompanied by her dog, Honey, who she said “cheated” during their wild, cold water swims “by wearing her fur coat.” Lynn died of a brain tumor in 2016. Author Tanya Shadrick (whom I heard speak on Katherine May’s podcast) compiled and edited her writings at her bequest. Lynn’s vivaciousness and her quiet fill every page.
Lynn Roper was a wild swimmer who explored the Devon coast. She details her “aquamarine wanderings,” full of every shade of blue, green, gray, & copper. She describes solo swims and group outings, my favorite of which were Moon Gazey (full moon) swims with friends, followed by thermoses of piping hot beverages and small cakes. Sounds like heaven.
She was almost always accompanied by her dog, Honey, who she said “cheated” during their wild, cold water swims “by wearing her fur coat.” Lynn died of a brain tumor in 2016. Author Tanya Shadrick (whom I heard speak on Katherine May’s podcast) compiled and edited her writings at her bequest. Lynn’s vivaciousness and her quiet fill every page.
January 28, 2019
Lynn Roper, a paramedic by profession, claimed not to be a writer. The beautiful prose in this journal-based book poetically proves her wrong.
Recovering from a double mastectomy, in 2011 Lynn Roper took up `wild swimming’, swimming in rivers, pools and the sea, year-round. In her journal edited by her friend Tanya Shadick after her death, Roper vividly takes you into the world of these swimmers who plunge into cold waters and swim around coastal islands, body surf down rapids, float down rivers to the sea and then power their way back up them.
Accompanied always by her dog Honey who swims as enthusiastically, though not always as wisely as Roper does, she details swimming in over 60 wild waters on Dartmoor and around the Devon coast. She and fellow members of the Outdoor Swimming Society plod across the moors and beaches then strip off to plunges into sometimes frigid seas only rarely donning a wetsuit and often sporting the red “tan” caused by the extreme cold. Her descriptions of the water are magical. In one place it is “Blue-black glinting in the blue-grey light” and the beach near it has “moss and desiccated bracken the colour of a fox’s pelt.” A winter river has become a “steel-hard witch with the taste and texture of bootleg vodka.” In a moorland pool she floats “face-down through ginger-ale fizz.”
Roper is funny too. I particularly enjoyed the account of the salmon stealing the post-swim cake and the hilarious events that followed. Her portraits of her swimming buddies are sensitive and caring. Knowing from the start that Roper’s five years of wild swimming ends with the recurrence of cancer does not take away from the joy this book exudes. Her vivid writing takes you along with her, albeit from the warmth of your reading chair and in this way she lives on in the readers new understanding of the world of wild water even if you never plunge in yourself.
Recovering from a double mastectomy, in 2011 Lynn Roper took up `wild swimming’, swimming in rivers, pools and the sea, year-round. In her journal edited by her friend Tanya Shadick after her death, Roper vividly takes you into the world of these swimmers who plunge into cold waters and swim around coastal islands, body surf down rapids, float down rivers to the sea and then power their way back up them.
Accompanied always by her dog Honey who swims as enthusiastically, though not always as wisely as Roper does, she details swimming in over 60 wild waters on Dartmoor and around the Devon coast. She and fellow members of the Outdoor Swimming Society plod across the moors and beaches then strip off to plunges into sometimes frigid seas only rarely donning a wetsuit and often sporting the red “tan” caused by the extreme cold. Her descriptions of the water are magical. In one place it is “Blue-black glinting in the blue-grey light” and the beach near it has “moss and desiccated bracken the colour of a fox’s pelt.” A winter river has become a “steel-hard witch with the taste and texture of bootleg vodka.” In a moorland pool she floats “face-down through ginger-ale fizz.”
Roper is funny too. I particularly enjoyed the account of the salmon stealing the post-swim cake and the hilarious events that followed. Her portraits of her swimming buddies are sensitive and caring. Knowing from the start that Roper’s five years of wild swimming ends with the recurrence of cancer does not take away from the joy this book exudes. Her vivid writing takes you along with her, albeit from the warmth of your reading chair and in this way she lives on in the readers new understanding of the world of wild water even if you never plunge in yourself.
August 20, 2020
I recently read Mornings with Rosemary by Libby Page and was smitten. Full on book crush after, which lead me to checking out the authors Instagram, which took me down a rabbit hole of amaziness? I scrolled for an hour reading her posts and discovering there is actually a name for something I’ve been doing for years. Libby has an account named The Swimming Sisters and has tons of photos of her and her sister swimming together. Lakes, streams, pools, rivers, if it has water they swim it! I had no idea people who love to go out and take a brisk swim are called wild swimmers, and there is accounts and books and so many articles about it. Whenever we travel I love searching for waterfalls or rivers and taking a dip. The water always freezing cold yet exhilarating. It makes me feel so alive and free. I was set to interview Libby for the Woman’s National Book Club and was researching Libby and the art of wild swimming, and that’s how I came across this beautiful book by Lynne Roper. Wild Woman Swimming is basically Lynne’s journal of all of her wild swims, locations, who she went with, how it made her feel, and unfortunately the story of how cancer slowly took her life. I really enjoyed reading this book and felt inspired and ready to find more locations to swim in the wild.
“It’s a spiritual experience, sliding through wild water. Worries dissolve, my mind is liberated; thoughts flow and glide and play like dolphins. My soul swims wild.” Lynne Roper
“It’s a spiritual experience, sliding through wild water. Worries dissolve, my mind is liberated; thoughts flow and glide and play like dolphins. My soul swims wild.” Lynne Roper
August 15, 2021
Wild Woman Swimming is a collection of Lynne Roper's journal entries describing her swims near her home on Dartmoor and off the Devon coast. Originally published in blog form (the blog is still available online), after her death from a brain tumour in 2016 her swimming friends gathered the entries together in book form, and the result is a gloriously lyrical piece of nature writing which celebrates water and the joy of being immersed in it in all weathers and at all times of year, as well as the friendships of fellow-swimmers. I read it because I love swimming, but I think that non-swimmers would also enjoy the writing and the pictures Roper's writing paints*.
*The original blog posts have photos, but I think that the photoless prose paints better mental images.
*The original blog posts have photos, but I think that the photoless prose paints better mental images.
September 5, 2019
Moved from 3 stars to 4 stars.
I really enjoyed reading this, but I would recommend reading a few pages at a time alongside another book. I read this over a few days and felt it got a little repetitive, despite how much I loved the descriptions and the joy that Lynne had from swimming.
I really enjoyed reading this, but I would recommend reading a few pages at a time alongside another book. I read this over a few days and felt it got a little repetitive, despite how much I loved the descriptions and the joy that Lynne had from swimming.
May 8, 2020
Such a beautiful book, I love it. Read it slowly, take it all in.
July 6, 2019
Wild Woman Swimming by Lynne Roper
This is one of my Wainwright Prize longlist reads, I was very disappointed that it wasn't shortlisted.
Sadly, and we are told this right at the start, Lynne died before this book was published. It's not a sad book though, quite the opposite.
It's a diary of her wild swimming adventures, in her home county of Devon, England, over five years. It did add quite a lot to the charm of it for me that it was so local and I was familiar with some of the places. I read it gradually as it demanded to be sipped rather than gulped down. What becomes evident, very quickly, is that Lynne was a character, she has a wicked sense of humour and she writes beautifully, particularly about the water, be it the river Dart or the wild sea. Some of her swims sound terrifying! I really enjoyed my daily 'dip' into this one (sorry I will stop with the puns now, couldn't resist!). You don't need to be into Wild Swimming to enjoy this one. I've never done it and am never likely to either, being virtually a non swimmer but reading this almost made me want to give it a go (which would be mad and isn't actually going to happen!). But it's that kind of book. Lynnes enthusiasm is infectious!I'm going to miss my little dates with Lynne. Her sense of humour and zest for life taught me a thing or two. One to take your time with and savour.
This is one of my Wainwright Prize longlist reads, I was very disappointed that it wasn't shortlisted.
Sadly, and we are told this right at the start, Lynne died before this book was published. It's not a sad book though, quite the opposite.
It's a diary of her wild swimming adventures, in her home county of Devon, England, over five years. It did add quite a lot to the charm of it for me that it was so local and I was familiar with some of the places. I read it gradually as it demanded to be sipped rather than gulped down. What becomes evident, very quickly, is that Lynne was a character, she has a wicked sense of humour and she writes beautifully, particularly about the water, be it the river Dart or the wild sea. Some of her swims sound terrifying! I really enjoyed my daily 'dip' into this one (sorry I will stop with the puns now, couldn't resist!). You don't need to be into Wild Swimming to enjoy this one. I've never done it and am never likely to either, being virtually a non swimmer but reading this almost made me want to give it a go (which would be mad and isn't actually going to happen!). But it's that kind of book. Lynnes enthusiasm is infectious!I'm going to miss my little dates with Lynne. Her sense of humour and zest for life taught me a thing or two. One to take your time with and savour.
August 17, 2019
So much life and vigour in Lynne's journal entries... Made me crave a swim adventure of my own, followed by a hot chocolate.
It's not because she's having wild adventures in different waters, but because every sentence she writes carries a strong sense of the present moment. Lynne lives in the now. That's what makes her observations so wonderful and life affirming.
"If you're by the water, stop, close your eyes, and just listen for as long as you can. There is no single sound, no permanently dominant noise but rather a soundscape map that you can follow with your ears as the water moves. Beneath the roar here, there are distant wafts of gentler soughing, tickles and tinkles, the champagne fizz of dissipating foam, a sudden boom as a wave crashes onto the reef and echoes around the Mermaid Pool cove.
What's the origin of those crashing sounds? It's air bubbles that form in rough water and which act as little bells, oscillating in suspension till they pop. Such a beautiful image, bells in the sea."
It's not because she's having wild adventures in different waters, but because every sentence she writes carries a strong sense of the present moment. Lynne lives in the now. That's what makes her observations so wonderful and life affirming.
"If you're by the water, stop, close your eyes, and just listen for as long as you can. There is no single sound, no permanently dominant noise but rather a soundscape map that you can follow with your ears as the water moves. Beneath the roar here, there are distant wafts of gentler soughing, tickles and tinkles, the champagne fizz of dissipating foam, a sudden boom as a wave crashes onto the reef and echoes around the Mermaid Pool cove.
What's the origin of those crashing sounds? It's air bubbles that form in rough water and which act as little bells, oscillating in suspension till they pop. Such a beautiful image, bells in the sea."
November 3, 2019
Inspiring read from an extraordinary wild swimming woman. A kaleidoscope of outdoor swimming adventures. ‘The Dart is middling high after the rain, and the colour of a pub ceiling before the smoking ban’.
December 27, 2020
Lovely writing within diary entries detailing wild swims over a period of a few years. Enjoyed it as
a great book to dip in and out from. Her descriptive prose brilliantly evokes the pleasure and joy of swimming outdoors, and the friendships made along the way.
a great book to dip in and out from. Her descriptive prose brilliantly evokes the pleasure and joy of swimming outdoors, and the friendships made along the way.
November 25, 2023
Obwohl sie schon als Kind eine echte Wasserratte war und die Liebe zum Schwimmen sie nie verlassen hatte, war Lynne Roper viele Jahre lang eine Gelegenheitsschwimnerin. Erst 2011 kehrte sie in in die Gewässer von Devon zurück, um nach ihrer doppelten Masektomie wieder Kraft zu tanken. Fünf Jahre lang ist die fast täglich geschwommen und hat darüber Tagebuch geführt. 2016 gab sie diese Tagebücher kurz vor ihrem Tod der Verlegerin Tanya Shadrick, die sie in diesem wunderbaren Buch veröffentlichte.
Ich gebe zu, dass es leicht ist, mich mit Büchern übers Schwimmen zu fesseln. Trotzdem sticht Lynne Ropers Buch aus der Reihe der Bücher heraus, die ich bis jetzt zu dem Thema gelesen habe. Für sie geht es nie nur um den Sport an sich, sondern immer um das gesamte Erlebnis. Lynne erzählt, wie sie gemeinsam mit ihrem Hund oder auch mit Freunden zu ihrem ausgewählten Schwimmplatz geht. Sie beschreibt die Natur, erinnert sich an Gespräche oder auch an Menschen, denen sie begegnet. Sie geht überall ins Wasser: in Bächen oder Flüssen, unter Wasserfällen und im Meer. Jedes Mal war es etwas Besonderes, auch wenn sie an dieser Stelle schon einmal geschwommen war, war es immer ein neues Erlebnis.
Je länger Lynne geschwommen ist, desto mutiger wurde sie. Trotzdem war sie nie leichtsinnig, sondern wusste immer, wo ihre Grenzen waren. Dass das kein absoluter Schutz ist, mussten Lynne und ihre Gruppe schmerzhaft erfahren, als ein Freund von ihnen beim Schwimmen verstarb. Den Schmerz darüber kann man in ihren Zeilen deutlich lesen.
Es geht in ihren Tagebüchern wirklich nur ums Schwimmen, deshalb lässt sie ihrer Erkrankung nur wenig Raum. Aber man merkt, dass die Einträge weniger werden. Die letzten sind von ihren Freunden, in deren Mitte sie eine nicht zu füllende Lücke hinterlässt.
Ich gebe zu, dass es leicht ist, mich mit Büchern übers Schwimmen zu fesseln. Trotzdem sticht Lynne Ropers Buch aus der Reihe der Bücher heraus, die ich bis jetzt zu dem Thema gelesen habe. Für sie geht es nie nur um den Sport an sich, sondern immer um das gesamte Erlebnis. Lynne erzählt, wie sie gemeinsam mit ihrem Hund oder auch mit Freunden zu ihrem ausgewählten Schwimmplatz geht. Sie beschreibt die Natur, erinnert sich an Gespräche oder auch an Menschen, denen sie begegnet. Sie geht überall ins Wasser: in Bächen oder Flüssen, unter Wasserfällen und im Meer. Jedes Mal war es etwas Besonderes, auch wenn sie an dieser Stelle schon einmal geschwommen war, war es immer ein neues Erlebnis.
Je länger Lynne geschwommen ist, desto mutiger wurde sie. Trotzdem war sie nie leichtsinnig, sondern wusste immer, wo ihre Grenzen waren. Dass das kein absoluter Schutz ist, mussten Lynne und ihre Gruppe schmerzhaft erfahren, als ein Freund von ihnen beim Schwimmen verstarb. Den Schmerz darüber kann man in ihren Zeilen deutlich lesen.
Es geht in ihren Tagebüchern wirklich nur ums Schwimmen, deshalb lässt sie ihrer Erkrankung nur wenig Raum. Aber man merkt, dass die Einträge weniger werden. Die letzten sind von ihren Freunden, in deren Mitte sie eine nicht zu füllende Lücke hinterlässt.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews