About
SwimWild was set up in 2018 by Alice Goodridge as a way to share her passion for adventure and open water swimming. Alice is an experienced long-distance swimmer and swimming coach with years of experience introducing swimmers to the joys of swimming outdoors and helping people to achieve their goals.
With a background in adventure travel operations and environmental research Alice has travelled and worked all over the world. She has been lucky enough to swim in some amazing places along the way, including glacial lakes in the Arctic Circle, mountain lakes in China and Kyrgyzstan, spring-fed rivers in Nigeria and around tropical islands off the coast of Sierra Leone.
In 2012, in addition to successfully completing a solo swim of the English Channel, Alice began coaching and guiding swimming holidays and training camps in the UK and overseas. Since then she has been lucky enough to work alongside some of UK’s best swimming coaches, including former Olympians, and has provided support for numerous long distance swims.
In 2013 Alice moved to the Highlands and started exploring the local lochs, swimming round castles and dipping in river pools and under waterfalls. She fell in love with the incredible mountain lochs and stunning beaches of the west coast and the islands. Having already been instrumental in setting up several open water swimming groups in the South of England Alice was keen to share her enthusiasm for outdoor swimming in Scotland. She soon set up the Cairngorm Wild Swimmers group, which has grown from just a handful of regular dippers to a thriving community of hardy all-year-round swimmers.
In 2017 and 2018 Alice has organized the Highland Wild Swim Gathering, a fun event in the Cairngorms National Park, which has been attended by many swimmers from all over the UK. SwimWild has been created in order to provide even more incredible opportunities and experiences for swimmers in Scotland.
Alice’s qualifications…
- STA Level 2 Open Water Swimming Coach
- ASA Level 2 Swimming Teacher
- RLSS National Beach Lifeguard Qualification
- RLSS Level 3 National Water Safety Management Programme
- RYA Powerboat Level 2
- Outdoor First Aid
- Mental Health First Aid
- IISA Level 1 Official Observer
Alice’s Swims…
Solo Swims
2012 – English Channel (21 miles)
2014 – Lake Zurich, Switzerland (16.4 miles/26.4 km)
2017 – Lake Annecy, France (9.3 miles/15km)
2018 – IISA Ice Mile (1 mile in water under 5 degrees)
2018 – Loch Lomond (21.6miles) BLDSA Championships
2020 – Winter Swimming World Championships, Lake Bled, Slovenia
2022 – Loch Awe (40km/25miles)
Alice’s Swims…
Relay Swims
One Way English Channel – 2011, 2012 (x 2), 2014
Two Way English Channel – 2013
Loch Ness – 2015
