CULTURE CLUB
TAKING THE PLUNGE
The Tidal Year A meditation on grief, love and the restorative power of wild swimming, Freya Bromley’s The Tidal Year takes readers on a journey around Britain’s seawater pools as she grapples with the devastating loss of her brother. From the banks
HEALING POWER Exploring cold waters turns into a journey of extraordinary self-discovery
– it’s helped me find a way it can co-exist in my life a bit more.” Freya’s book taps into the surge in popularity wild swimming is enjoying within Cambridge and the country as a whole. Club memberships have soared, while the Outdoor Swimming Society’s membership has risen by a huge 75,000 since 2020. It might seem like a craze, and the pandemic and hot summers have certainly propelled its ascent, but open water swimming is nothing new in the UK, stresses Freya. “It’s been in the news a lot lately, but actually has a long legacy,” she comments. “Especially in coastal communities; tidal pools have always been real landmarks for keeping people well, outside and connected to the landscape for hundreds of years.” For anyone inspired to give it a try, there are a wealth of benefits on offer. Proponents champion the advantages of interacting with nature; the thriving community the sport has and the incomparable high that plunging into natural waters provides. “For me, it’s the clarity: when you’re in cold water, it’s such a shock that your mind is totally cleared of anything else. Any worries you have melt away,” says Freya. “I’ve found that feeling addictive, and it has helped me cope with the shocking despair of losing somebody. Swimming in cold water gives you a release of endorphins, you feel totally ablaze, with so much adrenalin.”
of the Cam in Grantchester to a bright-blue lagoon in Abereiddi, Wales, the book traces her healing process as she ruminates on her love of open water swimming, and the space it creates for reflection and hope. “I started swimming because I found it was helpful for my grief, and it kept me well after my brother died,” shares Freya. “Whenever I chatted to people who were swimming, it was quite a common thing; they were going through a divorce, or breakup, or addiction they were battling, or perhaps they were lonely. It seemed like everybody had a story behind why they swam – I wanted to explore that, and those interesting human stories.” She was inspired to start a podcast on the topic, which led to interest from a literary agent, who suggested Freya chronicle the mission she was on at the time, to swim in every tidal pool in Britain within a year. “Looking back, it has been a journey of compassion and courage,” she says. “Grief is a real journey and something I wasn’t doing a very good job of interweaving with my life at the time. It was something I shut away. This process made me excavate it and bring it to the surface. That has been painful, but good
There are an abundance of beautiful spots locally, from Grantchester Meadows to Milton Country Park and – of course – our city’s famous lido (more on page 34). In among her travels of the UK, Freya has special memories of her dips around Cambridge, of which she had many while studying at Madingley Hall’s Institute of Continuing Education. “The first time I went to Grantchester, I had a message from a friend telling me to meet with a group – bright and early. It was dawn and I did question that! But to see the sun come up on the river was so beautiful, it’s lovely that the people of Cambridge love and respect nature there, and embrace it,” she smiles. “When I go back to Cambridge, I always make an effort to go swimming in Grantchester. I feel like I have much more of a connection with the city because of that. It’s a really beautiful spot and I feel very grateful that the people of Cambridge look after it so well!” The Tidal Year: A Memoir on Grief, Swimming and Sisterhood (hardback) is out now, priced at £16.99
14 JUNE 2023 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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