Andrea Hall

You might remember that before Christmas we worked with artist Andrea Hall to run a Christmas giveaway competition which many of you entered, and the eagle eyed amongst you will have seen Andrea has designed the cover of this issue of Lifesavers magazine.

We recently caught up with Andrea about her connection with the water ahead of our Open Water Festival in June where Andrea will be exhibiting.

My Swim Story…

Like a lot of people in the Summer of 2012, I was really into the London Olympics. It was so uplifting and inspiring.

Working as a freelance graphic designer at the time meant that I could fit my working hours around watching the events unfold. Nothing intrigued me more than the marathon swims in Hyde Park. It was quite a spectacle back then, and 10k seemed like a completely incredulous distance to do in a pool, never mind outside. I got comfy on the sofa with a bottle of wine, a big family bag of tortilla chips and settled in to watch the women’s performance. At age 46, I weighed-in at a hefty 16 stones and I was huge – my own swimming days a long-lost memory.

Swimming Family

My mum and grandma before her had both been swimming teachers. Between them, they had taught generations of local school kids when swimming was part of the national curriculum. Most days I swam for the local club, and every family holiday had to involve a lido or the sea. By the time I was 16, I had developed a passion for drawing, so I broke the family tradition and went off to art college. That was it for my swimming; I didn’t look back. Until that day in 2012, beached on the sofa with glass in hand, shouting encouragingly at Keri-anne Payne and being gob-smacked at the frenzied feeding stations. I said to my partner, “I could’ve done that when I was younger.”. That very moment changed my life.

And so it began…

I started going to the pool. At the first session, I swam 40 lengths of breaststroke out of nowhere, and then struggled to life my arms up to the steering wheel afterwards. I ditched the wine and crisps and made myself miserable with low-fat yogurts, but I persevered. I discovered a kind of endurance, and it was liberating.

I was swimming three times a week and loving it – making new friends and getting to know the staff. One of my new friends, Claire suggested we do the Great North Swim and before I knew it, we were signed up. I trained hard over the winter and by the time our first foray into open water came round in the spring, I was five and a half stones lighter. Since then, I have swum numerous events, up to 10k and even done a few triathlons. I’ve become a bit of a swim tourist along with Claire, visiting lots of swim spots throughout the seasons. I love the unique viewpoint from the water, the connection with nature and the changing colours.

Olympic Legacy

In 2018, I started to illustrate my experiences. I put the results on social media and immediately got enquiries. One thing led to another and now run my online swimming art shop full-time and attend swimming events as an exhibitor.

It’s a privilege to be able to spread the joy I feel for swimming through my art, and that people actually buy into it makes me feel so proud. I’ve even had the opportunity to work with Kerianne Payne too!