Meet the Team
The Wild Swim Store is brought to you by swimming siblings Tam n Jay.
Born out of a lifelong obsession with the open water, passed down through generations mixed with personal circumstance, this is a store, by wild swimmers for wild swimmers.
Starting Instagram @swimthejewels to document our swimming endeavours was not the beginning of our swim adventures, merely sharing them with the public.
Maybe it’s our Cornish sea captain heritage that means we literally feel an overwhelming draw to the open ocean.
We can pinpoint our inspiration for swimming from our beloved late Granny to whom we are dedicating this site. Granny was swimming in the Cornish seas, as well as managing half a mile, three times a week in the pool right up until she left us at the ripe old age of 97.
We can still hear her shrieks of child-like joy as she would get tossed around in the waves. She even has a cup named after her at the annual Hayle Lido Supersplash, which she would enter without fail.
This love for cold, salty water reached us through the next generation. Our Mum is an accomplished open water swimmer, having swum in the Brisons swim at Cape Cornwall, the St Ives Biathlon as well as the Newlyn swim.
It was her that would also tirelessly drag us to endless swimming club pool sessions & galas, which gave us the lifetime gift of swimming strength, endurance, technique, and blessed us with the confidence for our swim adventures later on in life (Jay is also very thankful for the broad shoulders and meeting his lifelong best matey Stef at C.S.C.S.C.)
Tam then took her love for the sea to the next level by completing a degree in Marine Biology which went on to further cement her passion for the natural world. A desire to share the beauty of nature led her to work in Natural History TV at the BBC on programmes like Springwatch and Countryfile.
Tam has had a rollercoaster of health problems throughout her life and was eventually diagnosed with Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) after contracting viral meningitis. Fitting in a normal work schedule in between bouts of severe fatigue and other symptoms has been tough. Wild Swimming in itself has proved an exhilarating antidote, and being able to share this with others, as well as setting her own work schedule is one of the many factors that bring us here.
The pandemic was also been a driver behind forming our family run store. Jay signed up to qualify as an open water swim coach during this period. knowing that he wanted in some way to share the swim love. Having qualified during the first lockdown, he knew he would have to wait a while longer before being able to call on his new found coaching skills.
With lockdowns, came a lot of time to reflect and reassess our priorities in life and, through that, family came to the forefront. Taking a leaf from our Dad’s business acumen and his "you-never-know-until-you-give-it-a-try" anxiety-free attitude, as well as Jay’s better half, Carlota’s, desire to get her teeth into something outside of the 9-5 work from home repetition, we have finally decided to take the plunge. (Neither of the above are natural cold water aficionados, but provide perfect subjects to hone our techniques on)
Since launching the store in 2021, Jay has taken what he learned in launching the swim store to his other childhood passion: Snakeboarding. A Fun way to get about town whilst building your balance and coordination.
This is a store, run by people who have a deep passion for outdoor swimming. We are starting small, and we will make mistakes, but will learn with your feedback. So if there’s something you’d like to see us stock, or you spot the odd speling mistake, please reach out! Either here or on our social.
Our desire is to provide you with a one stop place for all of your wild swimming needs whether you are taking those first nervous steps into the water or you’re already a mile from shore marvelling at the big rollers bobbing you about.
Thank you for making it this far, we hope you are all safe and well, both in and out of the water.