Everyday Outdoor Heroes: Sophie Allen

First up we have Sophie, a keen open water swimmer, who found a creative solution to continuing her favourite outdoor activity throughout lockdown from the safety of her own home. Learn more about Sophie and her outdoor journey below.

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Sophie had her first taste of open water swimming through an introductory course at the London Royal Docks. It was gifted to her for Mother’s Day by her partner and son, who presented the details of the course strapped to a tub of duck fat. After that first swim, she was hooked.

For Sophie, the outdoors and swimming are a way to take time for herself, away from her job and away from pain. In the past, she was an avid runner and walker completing ultra marathons, but after picking up one too many injuries along the way, she had to look into other forms of exercise. Sophie also has Scoliosis and Osteopenia, and the weightless feeling of being supported by water helps manage both of these conditions.

On top of the mental and physical benefits of wild swimming, it also functions as a means for Sophie to teach her son Jacob, 8, valuable lessons about gender equality in the field of outdoor sports and normalises wanting to do things that can push your limits.

Before the pandemic hit, Sophie spent a lot of time swimming at the London Royal Docks, as well as exploring wild swimming spots like River Chelmer and River Stour. Once the restrictions were put in place and she wasn’t able to enjoy the positive effects of swimming anymore, she felt like a fish out of water.

“Swimming, my escape, had been taken away from me and I was struggling seeing my partner being able to get his release and downtime by going for a run, while I wasn't able to swim. I know that this sounds really selfish, and lord knows my partner had as much on his plate as I did, but I was really missing swimming.”

When it became clearer that lockdown and the virus weren’t going away any time soon, Sophie started to explore her options. She saw people on Facebook discussing tethered swimming, but at first, it didn’t seem realistic. Most of them seemed to already have their own pools, and the fair assumption was that the cost of all required kit would be sky-high. However, after doing some research into everything required to create her own setup, Sophie was positively surprised.

“The cost of the kit I would need was not as much as I thought it would be, so with the agreement of my long-suffering partner Tim, I set about ordering a 3x2m framed paddling pool, filter pump and thinking about how I could create a tether. By the time I got around to putting everything into action all of the tethers had sold out... so Tim set about making something for me. We used a belt from an old tow float, some paracord, and a band of elastic that I had squirrelled away in our box of stuff (I think every house has one). Tim is a climber by heart so set to knotting and securing our contraption to our fence. It took some adjusting and a rather chilly hour or so in the pool to get it all right but we got there in the end!”

Not only did the swimming setup help distract Sophie from the realities of everyday life during the pandemic, but it also allowed her to give back to the community. She works as the Challenge Events Manager for London’s Air Ambulance Charity, which was also experiencing the effects of the virus due to a drop in fundraising opportunities. Furthermore, the postponed 2020 London Marathon left their team of runners feeling downhearted. So, when London Marathon Events organised a virtual 2.6 Challenge, the charity decided to encourage people to participate. The idea was to do something active around the numbers 2.6, which gave Sophie an idea.

“This is when I thought about taking my own challenge, swimming the equivalent of 2.6k on the tether in my little pool. I obviously didn't have any way of measuring the distance as I wasn't going anywhere, but I knew my stroke rate and roughly how long it would take me usually to swim that distance so I set to work to swim for that time on the tether. I felt rather guilty having set the pool up and selfish for taking up half our garden just so I could swim, especially when I had friends trying to get their way through lockdown without the space to be able to do something like this, so I thought this was a good opportunity to do something good with my little pool!”

Sophie's pool is the perfect example of making the best of a bad situation. Although building a pool in your backyard isn’t possible for everyone, she encourages people to think of alternative ways to enjoy their favourite outdoor hobbies during the pandemic. “My advice would be to think about what makes you happy, what is it about that activity that makes you happy, and is there another way of doing it?” Sophie suggests.

The most important piece of advice Sophie has for everyone is to take time for things that make us happy, even if it requires implementing outside-the-box ideas to make it COVID-safe.

"I put off getting my pool as I thought I was being selfish, but when I spoke to my partner and my son, all they wanted was to help me feel happy. Taking time to look after yourself, taking time to make yourself happy is more important than ever right now, so if you can do that you should.”

Photos: Sophie Allen

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