Simon Murie is the man behind SwimTrek, which organises memorable open water swims in locations across the world.
A keen traveller all his life, he’d originally worked around the globe in the mining industry. In his free time, he’d explore regions through swimming, hiring a local boat and skipper and swimming from one island to another. Twenty years ago, one swim in Turkey from Europe to Asia – famed in Greek mythology – took him a month to organise but an hour to accomplish. Surely, he reasoned, there must be others wanting to do the same thing but without the hassle of sorting it out themselves?
The company was born and today SwimTrek is the largest provider of open water swimming experiences in the world.
Simon lives (on dry land) in Brighton and is a founding partner of a project much closer to home – SeaLanes, the new 50m outdoor pool in Kemptown.
Wild swimming is an extreme experience. It’s challenging, exhilarating, invigorating – and sometimes very cold. No two swims and no two locations are the same. Over the last few years, wild swimming has grown hugely in popularity as people dare themselves to try something different and overcome their fears and doubts.
In his talk, Simon will touch on this, how he successfully turned a passion into a career – and how he struck lucky with an activity he loved becoming the Next Big Thing. He’ll also discuss the challenges he faced in the early years and the lessons learned along the way.
Human: Brighton Summit was on 20 October 2023.
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