Olympian. Marathon swimmer. History-maker.

In this episode of In At The Deep End, Salim sits down with Alice Dearing, the first black woman to represent Team GB in Olympic swimming.

But this conversation goes far beyond medals and Olympic qualification. Alice opens up about the emotional reality of elite sport: the burnout, the self-doubt, the pressure of representation and the strange tension between making history while simply wanting to perform well as an athlete.

Together, Salim and Alice explore:

• Alice’s journey from Birmingham swimming clubs to the Tokyo Olympics
• Why she nearly walked away from swimming several times
• The hidden mental toll of high-performance sport
• The myths and stereotypes surrounding black people and swimming
• The work of the Black Swimming Association
• The Soul Cap controversy before Tokyo 2020
• Identity, belonging and what it means to represent Britain today
• Life after retirement and Alice’s ambitions to shape the future of sport in the UK

It’s an honest, thoughtful and timely conversation about water, identity, resilience and breaking down barriers.

If you enjoy the episode, please follow In At The Deep End, leave a rating or review and share it with someone who’d love it too.

Useful Links

Alice Dearing

• Alice's website: http://www.alicedearing.com/
• Team GB Profile: https://www.teamgb.com/athlete/alice-dearing/53rk1dw8eJYpYKnylE5rvD
• The Black Swimming Association: https://thebsa.co.uk/
• LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-dearing-oly-5ab64517b/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alicedearingx/

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim

Swimming & Open Water

• Shepperton Lake - open-water venue mentioned in the episode
• Outdoor Swimmer Magazine

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: inatthedeependpod@gmail.com
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

Lorraine Candy is one of Britain's most recognisable media voices. She is the former editor of Cosmopolitan, Elle and The Sunday Times Style, she's also a Sunday Times bestselling author and co-host of the hugely popular Postcards from Midlife podcast. But in this episode, it's not the magazine covers or the bestseller lists that take centre stage. It's the water.

Lorraine came to open water swimming at 47, after a panic attack during a sprint triathlon left her terrified and determined never to feel that way again. What followed was a decade-long journey that she describes, without exaggeration, as the single thing that has most improved her life. In this episode Salim and Lorraine talk about what cold water actually gave her during the hardest years of perimenopause, why community is the most underreported benefit of open water swimming, and how the two of them ended up working together on something many swimmers avoid facing: going faster.

It's a rich, honest conversation about bravery, belonging, and what it means to find a sport that will carry you through the rest of your life.

In this episode:

• How a panic attack in a triathlon lake became the start of Lorraine's real swimming journey
• Cold water swimming and perimenopause - the mental, physical, and community benefits
• Why the open water swimming community is one of the most inclusive and body-positive spaces Lorraine has ever found
• The moment she realised she'd been "plodding forever" and the mindful approach to speed that actually worked
• Favourite swims: Lake Geneva at sunrise, the Scilly Isles, swimming through a shoal of mackerel in Cornwall
• Fantasy swims on the horizon: the Strait of Gibraltar and Alcatraz
• Advice for midlife women and teenage girls - why getting in the water might be the best thing you can do for both of them

Useful Links

Lorraine Candy

• Postcards From Midlife podcast: https://www.postcardsfrommidlife.com/
• What's Wrong With Me? 101 Things Midlife Women Need to Know
• Lorraine's Substack newsletter, The Candy Club: https://substack.com/@lorrainecandy
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorrainecandy/

Swimming & Open Water

• Shepperton Lake - open-water venue mentioned in the episode
• Hampton Pool
• Outdoor Swimmer Magazine
• Watergate Bay Hotel - where Salim holds his swimming retreats

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: inatthedeependpod@gmail.com
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk

What does a life fully lived in the water look like? For Jane Asher, it looks like five world records broken in a single weekend, at the age of 95. A South London swimming legend and great-grandmother, Jane didn't even begin her competitive career until she was 55. Since then, she has become one of Masters swimming's most remarkable figures, currently holding world records in the 95–99 age group across the 50m, 100m, 200m, individual medley, and 50m backstroke.

In this conversation, Salim sits down with Jane to trace the extraordinary arc of her life, from clandestine boarding school pool sessions in 1940s Johannesburg and witnessing apartheid at close quarters, to coaching the next generation and returning to competition in her late 50s. Jane reflects on the joy that has kept her in the water for over eight decades, the friendships swimming has given her across the world, and why she still does tumble turns.

What's in this episode

• Growing up on Zambia's Copperbelt and swimming at a Johannesburg boarding school in the 1940s
• How apartheid shaped and troubled Jane's early life, and the moment swimming offered something different
• Teaching herself to swim competitively at 40, then discovering the Masters swimming world
• Building clubs and communities, from Jane's Extra Training sessions to the King's Cormorants in Wimbledon
• Breaking five World Records at the recent Guernsey Masters meet
• The meditative quality of swimming and why counting strokes keeps her present
• Her advice to anyone over 60 thinking about getting in the water for the first time
• Why Jane still gets up for a 9am swim three times a week.

Useful Links

Swimming & Open Water

• Shepperton Lake - open-water venue mentioned in the episode
• Hampton Pool
• Kings Cormorants Masters Swimming Club - Jane's local swimming club
• East Anglian Swallow Tails - the club Jane set up with her friends Seymour Banning and Carol Buykx
• Kingfishers Swimming Club - set up by Jane in Norwich
• Swim England Masters - the national body for adult competitive swimming in England
• Outdoor Swimmer Magazine

Swim with Salim

• SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim

Jane's record breaking achievements

• BBC article on Jane's five world records in April, 2026

Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...

• Email us: inatthedeependpod@gmail.com
• Use the get in touch form HERE - https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show
• Send us a voice message HERE- https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd

Produced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk