Feral Friend #5 - Lindsey Cole

Lindsey is an adventurer, writer, speaker and an outdoor swimming coach.

She grew up as a competitive pool swimmer, albeit not very competitive, and only got into outdoor swimming in the last few years.

After cutting her hand on a piece of plastic whilst swimming in Indonesia, Lindsey swam the length of the River Thames as a mermaid to highlight how we’re choking our mermaids and creatures with plastic. She also rescued a cow in the process and is now writing a kids book about it.

As well as finding tonnes of plastic, Lindsey also discovered the incredible community of people who swim outdoors. Her inbox filled up with swim invites all over the country and when she spotted the Scottish Cold Water Swimming event, she cycled to it and took up all those invites on her way. A two week jaunt turned into a six month adventure.  One of those friendly  invitations came from our Jamima; they dunked and bonded at our beloved Gaddings Dam.

Lindsey’s swum down many rivers, round islands and competed in a few Ironman triathlons. But she’s also a big fan of jumping into any patch of water, with a friend (new or old) and having a good ol’ yarn. As an active environmentalist, she likes to support independent local brands who care about how their products are sourced and made. Which is why she’s our Feral Friend.

You can follow Lindsey's adventure from her website.