Alix Bradield (attended 16-22 September 2023 Croatia week)

ALIX TRAVELS FROM AUSTRALIA TO JOIN THE SWIMQUEST CROATIA WEEK, AND TELLS US ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE:

In 2018, I had my first SwimQuest experience, on the Greek island of Mathraki.  After that, I kept dreaming about another one of their holidays.  The company has a number of competitors but I chose SwimQuest because I’d had such a good experience with them the first time.

Living in Australia, I can’t just bounce over to Europe on a regular basis but when a trip to London was being planned, I found I could coordinate being in England with a SwimQuest group meeting on the Croatian island of St. Klements.  When telling people how excited I was about the prospect, a predictable question was “who are you going with?” or “do you know the others?”.

I knew no one else but was sure we’d be friends in no time, as sharing a love of the open water and joining together every day in the ocean is guaranteed to be bonding time.  Our two guides, (Stephen Gould and Bertie Portal) were both highly trained and experienced in safety, driving boats, coaching and a myriad other skills, but were also marvellous in looking after us all as individuals and making sure we were all having a good time together.  This sounds easy but needs a special type of human to connect with many different personalities and needs.  They also have the knack of making sure we all had fun.

The morning and afternoon swims were different every day and planned according to constantly changing weather conditions, monitored by the guides.  They announced each morning what the day’s plans would be and this encouraged me not to be thinking days ahead, but living more in the holiday moment.

We were video’d on the water and under the water so we could see our stroke and learn ways to improve.  We all enjoyed and benefited from the coaching.  Now that I’m home , I continue to practice the tips I was given and feel I’ve developed a more efficient ‘forward crawl’.  We learned from watching our new friends in the water too and seeing what they were working on.

There was absolutely no pressure and our guides adapted to each of us as individual personalities in the water and on the land. Our whatsapp group provided a spot for all of us to post photos. Our guides did so daily, and a number of us continue to stay in touch this way.

Palmizana Meneghello, where we stayed, was a delight.  It was created by an art collector so we were surrounded by colour and fascinating works to rivet our attention, particularly in the dining room where we gathered for meals.  The staff were attentive and friendly and catered to our choices.

We also went out to restaurants some evenings to venues well known to SwimQuest.

There was always a great deal of laughter, even at breakfast, so the good cheer was not reliant on alcohol!  A special moment was when one of our little boats decided to stall and we watched our guides go into full-fledged problem solving mode, leaving us to a relaxing time of being becalmed on a mellow late afternoon, after our second swim of the day.  Our guides worked hard from early morning to bedtime, always efficiently and making it look like a dream job, though I know there are many demands to ensure our simply having a good time.

If I lived closer to SwimQuest destinations, I’d be signing up soon for another trip.  The October one in Turkey sounds appealing and the one on a boat in the Maldives is very tempting.

The SwimQuest experience is relaxing for the swimmers and at the same time most efficiently organised from first enquiry to post-holiday feedback.  Busy people, who sign up for a trip, have little discretionary time, especially when getting ready to leave work and family, but I’d recommend being as swim fit as possible beforehand to get the most out of the days.  However, participants are made to feel entirely comfortable about skipping a swim at any time, whether preferring a time to explore, or read a book, or have a nap, or whatever beckons.  And if tired at any time in the water, a guide   will give a hand into a boat. They are always good company , and from the boat,  you can enjoy watching your fellow swimmers skimming happily through the sea.

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by Alix Bradfield

Author of Energy for Life
Expert advice on boosting physical and mental health in midlife and beyond