The Outdoor Swimming Society

What The Outdoor Swimming Society does

The Outdoor Swimming Society (OSS), founded in 2006 by Kate Rew, is a UK not-for-profit organization limited by guarantee that operates the country's largest online community for wild and outdoor swimming. The society runs a free-to-join community of over 100,000 members across its Elsewhere monthly newsletter, Instagram account, and a network of Facebook groups, supported by a volunteer core of roughly 20 named contributors, patrons including Robert Macfarlane and Alastair Humphreys, and pro bono professional support from Ashurst (legal) and Fuel PR (press).

The platform is built on a content management system and e-commerce storefront, with the notable technical component being the wildswim.com crowdsourced swim map, developed by technology partner Storm ID, which helps members locate outdoor swimming locations. The society also maintains a UK-wide Wild Swim Groups Directory and a dedicated "Survive" educational section covering cold water safety, rivers, seas, lakes and technique. The technology is best characterized as a community-and-commerce platform rather than a software product, and the social swims operate under a Swim Responsibility Statement framework enabled by pro bono legal guidance.

The business model is a hybrid community and niche e-commerce operation. There are no membership fees; revenue is generated from optional member donations, brand sponsorships and partnerships, events, and merchandise sales (the latter handled through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, OSS Marketplace Ltd). The shop sells a curated range of branded outdoor swimwear, neoprene beanies, hammam towels, ceramics, books, and the Storm Chaser Beanie manufactured under licence by C-Skins, with delivery across the UK and worldwide excluding the EU. A significant portion of the organization's work is regulatory and advocacy-driven through the Right to Swim campaign, run jointly with Right to Roam, which pursues legal access to inland waters for swimming in England and Wales.

Name

The Outdoor Swimming Society

Legal name

The Outdoor Swimming Society Limited

Website

https://outdoorswimmingsociety.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Outdoor Swimming Society is a UK not-for-profit operating the country's largest free online community for wild swimming, serving over 100,000 members through a monthly newsletter, social channels, the wildswim.com swim map, and an e-commerce shop, with revenue from donations, sponsorships, and merchandise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Outdoor Swimming Community & Retail

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Open Water Swimming Events (OWS Races, Swim Challenges) (MPAKAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Water Sports & Marine Recreation Retail (Paddle/Surf/Dive/Boat Accessories) (CRAMABAI)

Keywords

• Outdoor swimming community
• Wild swimming advocacy
• Swim apparel retail
• Open water guides
• Swim map platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Nottingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: Member donations from the free-to-join community
2. Brand Sponsorships and Partnerships: Revenue from brand sponsorships and partnerships
3. Merchandise and Events: Revenue from OSS merchandise sold through the online shop and events

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Outdoor Swimming Society is a not-for-profit community that provides a free-to-join platform for outdoor swimming enthusiasts, combining content (features, safety guides, advocacy), a free monthly newsletter called "elsewhere", and a direct-to-consumer e-commerce shop selling branded apparel, swim accessories, ceramic items, gift vouchers, and externally authored swim guidebooks. A separate crowd-sourced swim map (wildswim.com), a UK Wild Swim Groups directory, and a Right to Swim advocacy campaign complete the offering.

Product overview

The Outdoor Swimming Society operates primarily as an online community platform and e-commerce retailer for wild outdoor swimming enthusiasts. The core offering consists of the OSS website content platform providing Features, Survive guides, and Right to Swim advocacy, alongside the free monthly Elsewhere newsletter. The e-commerce shop (OSS Marketplace) sells merchandise including the OSS Cotton Hammam Towel, OSS Classic Red Hat, Swim Free Mug, and various headwear (Storm Chaser Beanie, Alpaca Beanies, Chunky Wool Beanies), accessories (C-Monsta Swim Gear Hanger, ceramic pots, woven badge, gift vouchers), and books (The Outdoor Swimmers' Handbook, Wild Swim, Wild Sauna Britain, Snorkelling Britain, Places We Swim California, Is A River Alive?, the Wild Swimming Walks series, Elsewhere 20th Anniversary Magazine, and Wild Guide Morocco). The society also maintains a Wild Swim Groups Directory listing local swimming groups across the UK, and operates environmental initiatives including goggle recycling. Merchandise is sold through OSS Marketplace Ltd.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OSS Online Shop Direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront at outdoorswimmingsociety.com/shop selling OSS-branded clothing, accessories, swim kit, books, and gift vouchers for outdoor swimmers. Operated by OSS Marketplace Ltd; UK flat delivery £3.99, free over £50, international delivery available excluding EU.
• OSS Cotton Hammam Towel Striped cotton hammam towel for outdoor swimmers, designed for use at beaches and river banks.
• OSS Classic Red Hat Red swim hat with The Outdoor Swimming Society text, designed for open water visibility and safety.
• Storm Chaser Beanie Neoprene beanie manufactured exclusively for the OSS by C-Skins, featuring 2mm Free Flex neoprene with ThermoTech lining, designed for in-and-out water use year-round.
• Short Alpaca Merino Watch Cap Charcoal watch cap blending alpaca and merino wool with fine stitching at top and chunkier stitch at the cuff, marketed for post-swim warmth.
• Single Travel Hammock Cocoon-format single travel hammock in Sunshine Yellow made from 70 denier diamond ripstop nylon with aluminium carabiners.
• Swim Free Mug Ceramic mug decorated with the Swim Free design and heron illustration by Nick Hayes, sold in partnership with Right to Roam to support the inland access campaign.
• C-Monsta Swim Gear Hanger Swim gear hanger made from recycled plastic in Scotland, designed to dry wetsuits and swim gear faster.
• OSS Gift Vouchers Online gift vouchers in denominations from £10 to £100, available as emailed or posted versions for use in the OSS shop.
• Goggle Recycling Service Environmental initiative allowing swimmers to send old goggles for recycling at the OSS Bruton address, preventing them from ending in landfill.
• The Outdoor Swimmers' Handbook (Signed Edition) Comprehensive handbook by founder Kate Rew covering the art, sport and science of outdoor swimming, including community photography and illustrated field guides; available as a signed edition.
• Wild Swim (Signed Edition) Book by OSS founder Kate Rew featuring the best places to swim outdoors in Britain, with photography by Dominick Tyler; available as a signed edition.
• Snorkelling Britain Book by Emma and Gordon Taylor featuring 100 wild swimming and snorkelling adventures for marine explorers around Britain.
• Wild Sauna Britain Guidebook by Emma O'Kelly featuring nearly 200 outdoor sauna locations across Britain for pairing with cold-water swims.
• Places We Swim California Guidebook by Caroline Clements and Dillon Seitchik-Reardon featuring 58 outdoor swimming adventures across California regions.
• Elsewhere 20th Anniversary Magazine 20th anniversary edition gathering the best of The Outdoor Swimming Society's features, essays and photo stories, edited by Patrick Naylor.
• Wild Swimming Walks Series Series of regional guidebooks featuring 28 swim-walk adventures each, covering Lake District, South Wales, Eryri Snowdonia, and Norfolk & Suffolk.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fuel PRcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGilly Waddell, Managing Director of Fuel PR (award-winning boutique communications agency based in South-West London), serves as pro bono press officer for OSS. All press, sponsor and brand/film/podcast requests go through Gilly.
• Storm IDcoreTechnology or IntegrationStorm ID built wildswim.com, the crowdsourced online swim map for the OSS community. JJ Joyce, co-founder of Storm ID, built the platform alongside Kate Rew.
• C-SkinsminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerC-Skins manufactures the OSS Storm Chaser Beanie (2mm Free Flex neoprene with ThermoTech lining) exclusively for the OSS shop.
• Right to RoamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOSS partners with Right to Roam on the campaign for greater access to inland water in England and Wales. The Swim Free mug features artwork by Nick Hayes in support of this campaign.
• Ashurst LLPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNathan Willmott, a lawyer at Ashurst, has provided pro bono legal advice to OSS since 2008, covering access rights, intellectual property, and legal liability issues.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Outdooractive: Broader outdoor recreation platform with crowd-sourced location data. Comparable as it provides mapped outdoor activity locations that could include swim spots, but operates across all outdoor categories rather than specializing in swimming.
• Speedo: Global incumbent swimwear brand. Comparable as it serves outdoor and competitive swimmers (OSS contributor Chris Johnson has designed Olympic-level products per source:), but operates as a mass-market apparel manufacturer rather than a community platform.
• Komoot: Major outdoor route planning platform with crowd-sourced content. Comparable to wildswim.com in the crowd-sourced outdoor location model but operates across hiking, cycling, and broader outdoor activities rather than swimming specialization.

Others

• Finisterre: UK-based outdoor brand with strong alignment to wild swimming culture (OSS has featured Finisterre content). Adjacent peer because it serves the same customer base with outdoor apparel, and shares brand values around access and environmental stewardship, though it does not run a community platform.

Direct peers

• SwimTrek: UK-based provider of organized open water swimming holidays and expeditions. Comparable as it serves the same outdoor swimming enthusiast segment with organized swim experiences, but commercializes via paid trip packages rather than community.
• The Outdoor Swimmer: A magazine and media brand dedicated to outdoor swimming. Competes directly with OSS for the attention of the UK wild/open water swimming community, covering swim spots, kit reviews, and swimmer profiles.
• SwimQuest: UK-based swimming holiday and coaching operator for open water swimmers. Shares the OSS customer base of dedicated outdoor swimmers but operates a paid-experiences business model rather than a free community.
• Wild Things Publishing: Publisher of the Wild Swimming Walks series and related guidebooks (Lake District, South Wales, Snowdonia, Norfolk & Suffolk — many stocked in OSS shop). Comparable because it produces published content for the same outdoor swimming audience.
• Cold Water Swimming Society: UK community platform specifically focused on cold water swimming. Directly comparable to OSS in target audience (outdoor/cold water swimmers) and community-led model, though more narrowly focused on the cold-water segment.

Emerging players

• Bluetits Chill Swimming: A grassroots cold water swimming community with a strong social media presence (notably Instagram). Comparable as it targets the same casual/recreational cold water swimmer audience, but with a younger, more irreverent brand positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/OutdoorSwimmingSociety
• Instagraminstagram.com/theoutdoorswimmingsociety
• Xx.com/outdoorswimming
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/outdoor-swimming-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Outdoor Swimming Society