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In At The Deep End

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by Salim Ahmed

5.0(1 reviews)

9 episodes

Updated Daily

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Podcast Overview

Inspring journeys from the pool to the everyday. Hosted by Salim Ahmed, a lifelong swimmer and swim coach with over 22 years experience, the show dives into the human stories behind the sport. Not just times and techniques, but the moments when water became an anchor, a lifeline, or a turning point. Each episode features honest, intimate conversations with everyday swimmers, Olympians, well-known names and unheard voices, all united by the role swimming has played in their lives. These are stories of resilience and reinvention, of grief and joy, of quiet victories and near-impossible comebacks. From open-water epiphanies to childhood pool memories, In at the Deep End explores how swimming steadies us, challenges us and carries us through life’s waves. If you love inspiring stories with depth, this is where you dive in.

Language

🇺🇲

Publishing Since

2/4/2026

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Recent Episodes

June 16, 2026

Surfing for love: How Pete Abell built a life, business and family by the sea

Pete Abell grew up in Gloucestershire. No coastline, no surf breaks, no obvious reason to end up where he did. But when his dad took him to Mawgan Porth at the age of eight with a borrowed foam board, something clicked. He never really left. Over two decades on, he's still there - running King Surf, raising a family in the water, and quietly building something that goes well beyond a surf school.What's fascinating about Pete is his philosophy. He's not chasing performance or competing for the best wave. He rides old-school twin fins and single fins. He lets other people have the set. He'll watch someone catch their first wave and get just as much out of it as if he'd caught it himself. In a world that's always pushing harder and faster, there's something really refreshing about that. In this episode, Salim and Pete explore:<ul><li>How a childhood spent swimming and skating led Pete to surfing, and why a back injury at 15 became a turning point.</li><li>The connection between swimming ability and surf safety, including what speed standards lifeguards and surf coaches are actually expected to meet.</li><li>The River Severn proposal: how Pete caught a wave at 7am on a freezing January morning, produced a ring from his armpit and created one of the most-watched videos on the BBC website that week.</li><li>The crossover between open-water swimming and surfing: why Salim can spot a surfer within two lengths, and whether swimmers should all have a go</li><li>What changes as you get older, not just physically, but in what you want from the water and what brings you back to it every morning.</li></ul>Useful links<ul><li>Pete Abell and King Surf: <a href="https://www.kingsurf.co.uk">kingsurf.co.uk</a></li><li>Pete on LinkedIN: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-abell-9b688231/">linkedin.com/in/peter-abell-9b688231/</a></li><li>Outdoor Swimmer Magazine: <a href="https://www.outdoorswimmer.com/">outdoorswimmer.com</a></li><li>Shepperton Open Water Swim: <a href="https://sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk/">sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk</a></li></ul>Swim with Salim<ul><li><a href="https://swimlab.org.uk/">SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim</a></li><li>Follow Salim on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/salimswimlab/">https://www.instagram.com/salimswimlab/</a></li></ul>Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...<ul><li>Email us: inatthedeependpod@gmail.com</li><li>Use the get in touch form <a href="https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show">HERE </a>- <a href="https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show">https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show</a></li><li>Send us a voice message <a href="https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd">HERE</a>- <a href="https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd">https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd</a></li></ul> Produced by <a href="https://thegoodstudio.co.uk/">The Good Studio</a> - thegoodstudio.co.uk

June 2, 2026

How Simon Griffiths built a magazine from scratch and got faster as he got older.

In 2011, there was no magazine for people who swam outdoors. No shared home for the stories, the training, the destinations, the growing community of people quietly falling in love with open water. So Simon Griffiths made one. As the founder and publisher of Outdoor Swimmer, he helped give a movement a voice, and in doing so built one of the most quietly influential publications in UK sport. But the story behind the magazine is more personal, and more compelling, than the cover lines suggest. Simon started Outdoor Swimmer in the aftermath of the worst thing that had ever happened to him, driven by a need to keep moving, to build something and to stay afloat. More than a decade on, he is still doing exactly that, now turning 60 with a personal best 100m time, training across every stroke and distance, and launching the Renaissance Swimmer Project, a new venture that asks what swimming might unlock in the rest of your life.Together, Salim and Simon explore:<ul><li>How a grief-driven idea became a landmark publication, and what it actually took to launch a magazine with no funding and a Google search.</li><li>Why the open water swimming community felt different from the start, and the names and early believers who helped the magazine find its feet.</li><li>What it means to get faster as you age, and how Simon broke a lifetime personal best in the pool on his 59th birthday.</li><li>The training principles that actually matter as you get older, including why sprint work is more important for long-distance swimmers than they think.</li><li>The case for swimming everything: why mixing strokes, distances, and environments makes you a better swimmer in all of them.</li><li>The Renaissance Swimmer Project, what it is, what it is not, and why Simon believes swimming is just the beginning of a bigger conversation about how we live.</li><li>Whether technology belongs in open water, from GPS goggles to coaching headsets, and where the line between useful and reductive sits.</li></ul>Useful links<ul><li>Outdoor Swimmer Magazine: <a href="https://www.outdoorswimmer.com">outdoorswimmer.com</a></li><li>The Renaissance Swimmer Project: <a href="https://www.renaissanceswimmer.com">renaissanceswimmer.com</a></li><li>Simon's book, Swim Wild and Free: Available from all good book resellers now</li><li>Shepperton Open Water Swim: <a href="https://sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk/">sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk</a></li></ul>Swim with Salim<ul><li><a href="https://swimlab.org.uk/">SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim</a></li></ul>Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...<ul><li>Email us: inatthedeependpod@gmail.com</li><li>Use the get in touch form <a href="https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show">HERE </a>- <a href="https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show">https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show</a></li><li>Send us a voice message <a href="https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd">HERE</a>- <a href="https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd">https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd</a></li></ul> Produced by <a href="https://thegoodstudio.co.uk/">The Good Studio</a> - thegoodstudio.co.uk

May 19, 2026

Trailblazing Olympian Alice Dearing: Burnout, belonging & The Black Swimming Association

Olympian. Marathon swimmer. History-maker.In this episode of In At The Deep End, Salim sits down with Alice Dearing, the first black woman to represent Team GB in Olympic swimming.But this conversation goes far beyond medals and Olympic qualification. Alice opens up about the emotional reality of elite sport: the burnout, the self-doubt, the pressure of representation and the strange tension between making history while simply wanting to perform well as an athlete.Together, Salim and Alice explore:<ul><li> Alice’s journey from Birmingham swimming clubs to the Tokyo Olympics </li><li> Why she nearly walked away from swimming several times </li><li> The hidden mental toll of high-performance sport </li><li> The myths and stereotypes surrounding black people and swimming </li><li> The work of the Black Swimming Association</li><li> The Soul Cap controversy before Tokyo 2020 </li><li> Identity, belonging and what it means to represent Britain today </li><li> Life after retirement and Alice’s ambitions to shape the future of sport in the UK </li></ul>It’s an honest, thoughtful and timely conversation about water, identity, resilience and breaking down barriers.If you enjoy the episode, please follow In At The Deep End, leave a rating or review and share it with someone who’d love it too.Useful Links Alice Dearing<ul><li>Alice's website: <a href="http://www.alicedearing.com/">http://www.alicedearing.com/ </a></li><li>Team GB Profile: <a href="https://www.teamgb.com/athlete/alice-dearing/53rk1dw8eJYpYKnylE5rvD">https://www.teamgb.com/athlete/alice-dearing/53rk1dw8eJYpYKnylE5rvD</a></li><li>The Black Swimming Association: <a href="https://thebsa.co.uk/">https://thebsa.co.uk/</a></li><li>LinkedIN: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-dearing-oly-5ab64517b/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-dearing-oly-5ab64517b/</a></li><li>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lorrainecandy/">https://www.instagram.com/alicedearingx/</a></li></ul>Swim with Salim<ul><li><a href="https://swimlab.org.uk/">SwimLab — Learn to swim with Salim</a></li></ul>Swimming & Open Water<ul><li>Shepperton Open Water Swim: <a href="https://sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk/">sheppertonopenwaterswim.co.uk</a></li><li><a href="https://outdoorswimmer.com/">Outdoor Swimmer Magazine</a></li></ul> Be a part of the show: Here's how to get in touch...<ul><li>Email us: inatthedeependpod@gmail.com</li><li>Use the get in touch form <a href="https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show">HERE </a>- <a href="https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show">https://inatthedeepend.transistor.fm/be-a-part-of-the-show</a></li><li>Send us a voice message <a href="https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd">HERE</a>- <a href="https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd">https://www.speakpipe.com/InAtTheDeepEnd</a></li></ul> Produced by <a href="https://thegoodstudio.co.uk/">The Good Studio</a> - thegoodstudio.co.uk

9 total episodes available

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What is In At The Deep End?: Inspring journeys from the pool to the everyday. Hosted by Salim Ahmed, a lifelong swimmer and swim coach with over 22 years experience, the show dives into the human stories behind the sport. Not just times and techniques, but the moments when water became an anchor, a lifeline, or a turning point.

Each episode features honest, intimate conversations with everyday swimmers, Olympians, well-known names and unheard voices, all united by the role swimming has played in their lives. These are stories of resilience and reinvention, of grief and joy, of quiet victories and near-impossible comebacks.

From open-water epiphanies to childhood pool memories, In at the Deep End explores how swimming steadies us, challenges us and carries us through life’s waves.

If you love inspiring stories with depth, this is where you dive in.
How often does this podcast release new episodes?: This podcast updates daily.
Where can I listen to this podcast?: This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
Does this podcast accept guests?: Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.

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