Renaissance Swimmer is a coaching and swim development project for adult swimmers. Its purpose is to help you…
Become a stronger, more confident all-round swimmer
🌊 Swim further, faster, in colder water and in more places – both pool and open water.
🌊 Boost your fitness and wellbeing, and have more fun while doing it.
🌊 Feel more connected – physically and emotionally – with everything swimming offers, both in the pool and outdoors.
🌊 Bring a Renaissance-era spirit of humanism, experimentation and balance to your relationship with swimming for deeper progress and lasting enjoyment.
Two ways to become the best all-round swimmer you can be
(1) The Renaissance Swimmer System – A flexible framework for lifelong swimming progress
Swim with more clarity, confidence and enjoyment — now and for the long term.
A single payment of £29.95 gives you permanent access to the 16‑lesson self‑paced system that helps you:
- Understand how swimming really works
- Improve efficiently across all strokes, distances and water types
- Make sustainable changes
- Build long‑term confidence and skill
- Bring more joy and adventure to your swimming
If you want swimming to feel better, make more sense, and continue improving year after year, and you enjoy self-paced study and practice, then the Renaissance Swimmer System is for you.
(2) Renaissance Swimmer Club – The support system that keeps you moving forward.
When you’re part of the Club, you’re no longer trying to figure out swimming on your own. You have people who guide you, encourage you and celebrate your progress.
Membership (£15/month) helps you:
- Feel more motivated to get in the water
- Stay consistent and confident in your training
- Push yourself in a way that feels supportive, not stressful
- Keep learning in a friendly, curious community
And you also get monthly Zoom calls, a WhatsApp group, monthly challenges and exclusive content. But the real value is the confidence and momentum that come from not doing this alone.
Who is Renaissance Swimmer for?
Anyone who swims, in pools or open water, who enjoys thinking about their swimming and wants to swim more mindfully and expand their swimming skills.
What does it cover?
Everything from improving your swimming technique to pool racing, long-distance swimming and winter swimming – and ideas for applying what you learn in swimming to your life.
What if I discover it’s not for me
We’re confident you will enjoy Renaissance Swimmer, whether you sign up for “System” or “Club” (or both!) – but if not, let us know within 7 days of joining and we will give you a full refund.
Discover more of what swimming can offer you
Enjoy a healthier, fitter and more adventurous life by becoming a Renaissance Swimmer – someone who has a deep understanding of swimming and can turn their hand to a wide range of swimming activities.
Whether you follow our self-paced programme or join the Renaissance Swimmer Club, you will build your confidence and skills, expand your swimming repertoire, and get more out of the water, and life!
Renaissance Swimmer Topics
Here are some of the topics you will find in the Renaissance Swimmer System. We cover the same themes in the Renaissance Swimmer Club through monthly Zoom calls and our WhatsApp group.
Improve your technique and learn pool racing skills
Sections 3 and 4
Hone your open water racing skills
Section 10
Become more competent and confident in open water
Section 5
How to practise and train
Section13
Master the cold for fun and the health and wellbeing benefits
Sections 6 and 7
Swimming for health
Section 14
And that’s not all!
As well as the above, find out how to become a marathon swimmer, learn how to control your pacing, build your swimming technical and general knowledge, and create your own Renaissance Swimmer Lifestyle.
Dive in
Or start small: Foundations for Better Swimming
A simple introduction — and the easiest first step.
This short course gives you a quick, practical introduction to the key principles behind better swimming:
- A more balanced, streamlined body position
- More effective, relaxed breathing
- Smoother, more efficient propulsion
- Feeling more at ease in the water
It’s designed to give you immediate improvements — and help you decide whether you want to go deeper with the full Renaissance Swimmer System.
Testimonials
“Thank you for creating Renaissance Swimmer. Your guidance on all aspects of swimming, combined with your encouragement of swimmers’ responsibility for their own learning and thinking, is truly outstanding.”
Esmond
“It’s great and I thank you for the thought behind it. How wonderful that a beginner pool swimmer like me can still score highly on some areas because you have holistically looked at how swimming is important to life.”
Sandra
“I was attracted by the range of topics covered and I am always keen to learn new things about a sport that I have done all of my life.”
Andrew
Need to know more?
- What is a Renaissance Swimmer, and why should you aspire to be one?
- What’s the difference between Renaissance Swimmer Club and Renaissance Swimmer System
- What does swimming mean to me?
- How to start your Renaissance Swimmer journey
- Get Reflections, the free newsletter from Renaissance Swimmer
Renaissance Swimmer was created by Simon Griffiths, founder and publisher of Outdoor Swimmer magazine, and author of Swim Wild & Free, A Practical Guide to Swimming Outdoors 365 Days a Year. Simon is an accomplished masters and outdoor swimmer and was part of the team that created the STA Open Water Coaching qualification.
Any questions?
Please email me at
simon@outdoorswimmer.com