We started from nothing in Salford Quays 25 years ago - what's been achieved is just phenomenal

Uswim open water swim club was formed by Dave Quartermain as a small social gathering with some close friends. A quarter of a century later, it’s one of the most widely-recognised clubs of its kind in Greater Manchester, hosting sessions and events to hundreds of people in the quays.

Co-owner and Dave’s wife Karen Quartermain said: “It's phenomenal. You sit back and you look at it and think, wow, he's done this from his passion. He’s making people's dreams come true and he supports people. 

“Back then it was a clipboard and a pen and people jumped off the side of the wall and the bridge. Now there's structure, there's processes, there's a lot more to it than there was back then. There were 10 to 20 people, now our sessions can have up to 200 people.” 

Uswim celebrated their 25 years during their annual Greater Manchester Swim event in May, where hundreds of people swam up to three miles in Salford Quays. Karen said: “We mainly celebrated Dave, because he was the founder and he was doing this before it was a business. 

“He was one of the very first out there to run supervised [open water] sessions which stemmed from him training for the English Channel himself and not having anywhere to go, so he wanted a safe place for people to swim.” 

Karen has been helping Dave run the swim club for 11 years. For her, open water swimming was a challenge to test her limits. She said: “My story is very different. Dave's background is a swimmer, he’s always swam – I'm not a swimmer. I had a back injury and pushed myself to do a challenge. I was just recuperating in the pool, trying to learn to swim a bit better because it helped my back, and then before you know it I was speaking to some people about the Great North Swim in Windermere. 

“You get to chat with people and you're so inspired by them. You're like, yeah, I could do that. The next minute I did the mile swim, then it became a 5k, then you swam the length of Windermere and then you swam to France before you knew it. You just get hooked on it and the feeling in the community around it.”

Since then, Karen has successfully completed a Jersey to France solo, solo Windermere several times, Ullswater, Coniston and numerous English Channel relay swims.

There are plenty of health benefits to swimming in open water. According to Swim England, open water swimming can improve sleep, boost the immune system, increase mood and prevent or manage long-term illnesses. 

“I think there's lots of benefits,” Karen added. “When you say open water swimming you haven't got lane ropes, you haven't got lane rage, you haven't got chlorine chemicals, you haven't got the heat. You can't really go to an indoor pool and just sit there and quiet your mind, whereas you can go in open water and just find yourself a place and just shut off from it all.”

A core belief of Uswim is water safety, especially during the winter months where temperatures of the water can plummet to seven degrees Celsius. 

Karen said: “We're a professional business with insurance. The water's been tested, we risk assess it, our business is covered and insured. We would always say to come to a commercial venue where you know you've got protection, you know the water you're going into is of safe quality, it's been tested, there's lifeguards, there's experienced people to help you on your first journey open water.”

For Karen, the most fulfilling thing is watching people achieve great things from the club. She said: “Seeing people on their own journeys, seeing them from day one and being part of that. A couple of years down the line, they've swam the English Channel or they've done the length of Conestown, or they've come back and they've done some crazy challenge. 

“You've seen them from day one, you've done an introduction with them, you've helped them with the technique, you've given them pointers and you can see how much they can develop within themselves, but they don't know it.”

The next Uswim event is their New Year’s Day Swim, at Dock Nine in Salford Quays.