Wild Swimming Coast, by Daniel Start

Here at GTC we love a spot of outdoor swimming, so Becci was chuffed to bits when a copy of the new Wild Swimming Coast by Daniel Start came through the office letterbox. She had the pleasure of catching up with Daniel, who kindly answered a few questions for us (and we'll be trying a couple of the swims in the next few weeks and reviewing them for you so you can stay nice and warm indoors with a cup of tea :O)

How long have you had the urge to fling yourself into our freezing native wetspots? And as a child, was your mother permanently pulling you out of drains and puddles?

There is a picture of me at three, standing naked in a bucket of cold water in the garden. It was the drought of 1976 and apparently I had downed tools and insisted it was too hot to do anything else. I've never been a good swimmer, but I have always loved taking a plunge in a clear waterfall or beautiful stream. I spent part of my childhood in Herefordshire, near the river Wye, and were always building rafts and rope swings. The books are partly about rediscovering the joys and freedoms of childhood again.

I particularly remember a wonderful twilight swim at a lovely spot called Josephine Falls in Australia that always brings me a little happy frisson of pleasure when I think of it; do you have any particular swim that stays in your mind as A Top Life Moment?

I remember an exceptionally hot summer of 1989. I was back packing in north Wales with school friends and we were aiming for a high mountain tarn on Snowdon to camp. We arrived early evening, boiling hot, the sun still scorching the bracken and our burnt faces. The tarn appeared and I remember running down to it, stripping off and plunging in, the water quenching my skin, and the sun sinking over the mountains, the whole lake shimmering with golden light.

One of the lovely things about your books is the amazing photos, did you take them all yourself? And have you swum in every single one of the locations you recommend??

Yes and yes! I love photography so this has been great fun - asking my friends to dive in one more time until they have hypothermia. But I always swim too - that's the best bit! I've swum in every one of the 600 locations n the two books - and in the same number again that didn't quite make the grade. Thank God for waterproof skin!

Whenever I throw myself in a river for a dip I always seem to get someone going on about the amount of pesticides in the water and how there are always dead fish floating just upstream. Do you worry about water quality or is it just a matter of making sure you don't swim along with your mouth open? (I've always dreamt of doing that in the river of chocolate from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by the way).

Fresh and marine water quality is better than at anytime in living memory and there have been amazing improvements in the last 15 years - so you won't find pesticides and poisons. Occasionally there will be cow poo, but any river or lake that has good fish stocks is clean enough to swim in. Fish are very fussy and the fisherman are always on the guard against bad farmers. That said, you should always be more careful in larger, lowland rivers, and never swim in cities or just downstream on a city. Our website http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/ tells you how to check your local water quality online.

Do you have a wild swimming kit in the boot of your car, and if so, what is in it?

I'm a minimalist! So that means a pair of trunks, some goggles and a light wieght cotton sarong for a towel (which also doubles as picnic table cloth, a man skirt, for carrying sea shells etc). Also a small plastic bag for the wet trunks afterwards. And if I know I'm going to do some swimming around rocks, a pair of plastic sandals to swim in. I never use a wetsuit - they're for wimps! And if I don't have trunks and towel, then I'll skinny dip and sacrifice an item of clothing to dry myself on.

Any tips for how to warm up following an icy swim?

10 press-ups - if you can do them. Otherwise 20 star jumps and a walk up a good hill. Plus a big jumper, a thermos of hot chocolate and a visit to a pub with a roaring fire.

And lastly, my husband has just come in and asked if you have any advice on blowing up armbands, and whether you do it on site, or take them pre-blown. I have just confiscated his elevenses biscuits as a result.

Ha! We often take rubber rings and lilos with us on summer missions and people always want to blow them up in the car on the way, which causes all manner of navigational problems.

Thanks for taking the time to chat to us, and good luck with the new book!

Happy swimming!