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Adele Benson | Ultra Marathon Swimmer

@swimmingadele

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🏊🏻‍♀️Swims too far & laughs too loud
🇬🇧 English Channel and Bristol Channel soloist
🌊 Next Challenge: 👀👀👀

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An updated 2018 ➡️ now.

Every swim in this carousel built the one after it, including last year. 2025 was my first lower-volume year since 2019. Not because I stopped loving it, but because I can be prone to burnout and needed to indulge in fun swims I’d been eyeing up.

Rest was the work.
Now we’re back.

Which swim are you dreaming about doing?! taken in Bristol, United Kingdom by @swimmingadele

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8 months ago

It’s been a while, I’ve had a wonderful summer and many of you have come along for the journey ☺️✨ by @swimmingadele

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a year ago

Next time I’ll take the ferry!

I conquered the English Channel in 15 hours, 13 mins and 37 seconds.

After the 15th or so jellyfish sting I was able to get over my fear of them! Otherwise it was generally warm with the wind pushing me in the right direction.

Some thanks:

@joshualukebevan Your unwavering support and belief in me has helped me in my darkest times in the run up to this swim. You are my rock.

@specialkquartermain (@qswimadventure_) You’ve cracked the code for channel swim success! I was able to enter this swim so confidently because of the tools you’ve equipped me with in the plan.

@louannepb You were such a beacon of positivity on the boat, you always knew when I needed a pick me up the most. I am blessed to call you my friend.

Ben Taylor I’m incredibly grateful for your channel swimming wisdom both before and during the swim. It made all the difference to have you there!

Now onto the next swim… 😜 taken in Dover, Kent by @swimmingadele

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2 years ago

Your body is an instrument, not an ornament 💅🩵 taken in Bristol, United Kingdom by @swimmingadele

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5 days ago

There’s a whole load of perspectives on wetsuit wearing and whether you’re a purist of the sport who doesn’t think people should wear one or you are someone who couldn’t go without it year-round, there’s a whole load more nuance to understand.

As we head into the winter months, open water swimming can become more extreme. Keeping yourself safe is a priority.

The turning point for me was the English Channel, and acclimatisation was one of the many challenges I faced on the way. Some of the people I met made me feel like wearing a wetsuit in the first place was wrong, but it was what got me into the sport and made me feel comfortable enough to go the distance in open water.

Just a reminder to do what makes you feel comfortable and challenge yourself at your own pace 🩵 taken in Bristol, United Kingdom by @swimmingadele

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a day ago

Leap (maybe not literally) into the latest @dontforgetyourpantspod episode

Hear about Becca’s trip to Annecy, the uneasy transition to winter swimming, and whether or not a roast is a roast if it doesn’t have roast potatoes

Available on YouTube and Spotify 🔥 taken in Inverness, Scotland by @swimmingadele

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2 days ago

Only the 102nd Bristol Channel swimmer in history taken in Bristol Channel by @swimmingadele

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a month ago

If you’re wondering what your next swim challenge should be, here’s my advice:

🏊‍♀️ Do it scared
🏊‍♀️ Challenge yourself
🏊‍♀️ Don’t hurt yourself

You definitely don’t need to be the fastest, strongest, or most experienced person in the water to belong there

Pick something that excites you! Pick something that makes you think “Could I actually do that?”

You never know, you might surprise yourself

And if you’re looking for somewhere to find other swimmers, share your swims and get inspired by what everyone else is up to, Catch is a great place to start

Use code ADELE for £15 off your first three months, plus your first 30 days free 🩵 by @swimmingadele

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7 days ago

I regularly get asked if I was a competitive swimmer growing up.

I think people see what I do now and assume there must’ve been a very obvious path that led me here.

There wasn’t.

I wasn’t a competitive swimmer. I didn’t start young. I wasn’t particularly talented. I stopped swimming for years. I went to university, got into climbing a mountaineering, had a job, and generally did all the things that life throws at you.

But Swimming has just kept finding its way back into my life.

And eventually, I decided to see how far I could take it.

And that’s probably the bit I’d want people to take away, your starting point doesn’t have to dictate where you end up.

You can start something because you love it. You can be absolutely rubbish at it, start late, stop, and come back to it years later. Progress doesn’t need to be linear.

You don’t have to have the perfect background or some lifelong talent.

You just have to give yourself the chance to find out what you are capable of (cringe but true) 🩵 taken in Bristol, United Kingdom by @swimmingadele

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8 days ago

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, partly thanks to @colette.walkerr who has been sharing some great reflections on jogging, pace and the pressure put on us to go faster.

It’s been interesting how much of endurance sport can be about a number, when the experience of doing the thing is so much bigger than that - I’m more enthusiastic to tell people about the jellyfish I got stung by in the Bristol Channel than how long it took me

This one is for anyone who has ever felt like they weren’t doing enough because they weren’t doing it fast enough taken in Bristol, United Kingdom by @swimmingadele

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12 days ago

The first step in getting comfortable with the cold again is cleaning the ice bath I abandoned over the summer

A good clean, a refill, a few ice packs and the neglected tub has purpose again!

Still far too warm to be calling this a proper ice bath, but the gradual cooling will ease me in nicely taken in Bristol, United Kingdom by @swimmingadele

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13 days ago

It’s really special to find someone who supports your dreams and gets excited about them too.

Someone who listens to endless swim chat (or even instigates it 😂)

Who will be wake up at stupid o’clock and look after things so I can focus

Who will celebrate big swims, sticks around when it gets tough, and is all in on my swimming because it’s a part of who I am

Josh has never made me feel like I need to be less ambitious, less passionate or less me

If anything, he’s somehow made me even more ambitious 😂

So grateful to have found my person ♥️ taken in Bristol, United Kingdom by @swimmingadele

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14 days ago