Surfacing

Striking out into the Currents of Life

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'Bright, vivid, funny and bracing' ROBERT MACFARLANE

‘Surfacing is about keeping your head above water even as life pushes you under. Inspirational and uplifting, I loved it' BONNIE GARMUS

We are all looking for a way to live that feels true. For Kate Rew, swimming outdoors, beneath the sky and through the elements, is that way: a way of letting meaning sneak back in through the body. It’s a cannon of joy in a complicated world where, when life closes in, it’s all too easy to lose sight of the horizon.

Blending memoir, adventure and nature writing she swims with friends, family and people she meets along the way: up a cold Welsh estuary where the tide surges under low autumn skies; down 24 kilometres of peat-dark river from the Arctic Circle where reindeer watch from the banks; through muddy rivers and ditches close to her Somerset home and into Guernsey sea gullies where clear waves tower above her.

Surfacing is a life-affirming story of connection, with people, places and the parts of ourselves that can disappear. Taking us on an exhilarating, heart-opening journey through rivers, seas and reservoirs both close to home and further afield, it’s a book for anyone who has ever felt hemmed in, and who wants to lift their eyes to the horizon and keep striking out for more.

It’s about not being afraid of what’s around the next bend.

I felt like I was right there in the water with Kate. This book will be a wild swimmers delight, and the perfect armchair read for those who want to experience a great journey without getting wet. Glorious, connective, profound, and exciting—a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it
Lynne Cox, author of Swimming to Antarctica

You open Surfacing, and its currents bear you fast away: it's hard to stop reading once you've begun. It's the story of a life told through water – and the story of water told through a life. It's bright, vivid, funny and bracing – and so very well written. Short, quick sentences come like rapids; then there are stiller, deeper runs, and eddy pools where everything pauses. This is a wonderful book that will reach, touch and speak to many readers
Robert Macfarlane

About Kate Rew

Kate Rew is a writer and founder of the Outdoor Swimming Society, which she started in 2006. The OSS helped transform outdoor swimming from a fringe pursuit into a mass movement in Britain. Born on a farm in Devon, Kate grew up swimming in rivers and hasn't stopped since. She previously worked as a freelance journalist for newspapers and magazines, and is the author of Wild Swim (2008) and The Outdoor Swimmer’s Handbook (2022). In 2016 she received the International Swimming Hall of Fame’s Paragon Award for her contribution to recreational swimming. She lives in Somerset.

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