We just finished our Health and Wellbeing Impact Assessment for 2024...
So, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to answer a few questions about physical and mental health in relation to swimming trips.
We’ve all heard stories and seen evidence that swimming improves our mental health. How that relates to our trips we don’t always share with our audience. In this blog, we’re going to dive into analysis of the impact trips have upon our travellers’ physical and mental health and wellbeing.
Of course, this isn’t the whole story. Our 2024 report aims to assess a representative sample of SwimTrekkers (209 respondents) who went on swimming holidays during our busiest season. We are going to look at the captured data and summarised responses they gave.
Overall Results
We were thrilled to discover that the results from the guests who took our survey were overwhelmingly positive:
- 111 said both their mental and physical health benefited (53.11%)
- 19 said only their physical health improved (9.09%)
- 28 said only their mental health improved (13.39%)
Overall, of those surveyed, 158 (75.59%) reported either a mental wellbeing, or physical health improvement as a result of their experience with us. As always, there is room for improvement, but this does serve to reinforce our long-held belief that active holidays have a significant positive impact on both mind and body.
“It has encouraged me to continue with a swim fitness routine which has a positive effect on overall physical and mental well-being” – L. Sheridan (SwimTrekker)
The Survey
To complete our report, we surveyed 565 customers across 42 departures on 19 different trips (between 31 August – 15 September 2024).
These trips included: Aeolian Islands, Lycian Way, Dalmatian Coast, Emerald Coast, Greek Cyclades, Greek Sporades, Ionian Explorer, Intro To Open Water, Open Water Development, Kornati Islands, Bali, Tremiti Islands, Western Lakes, YogaSwim Bali, YogaSwim Crete, YogaSwim Lake District, Milos, and Montenegro.
Of those surveyed we received 209 responses to the following questions:
How would you rate your overall mental health and wellbeing since taking part in your SwimTrek trip?
How would you rate your overall physical health and wellbeing since taking part in your SwimTrek trip?
Will your experience at SwimTrek encourage you to be more physically active, exercise more regularly, or adopt any lifestyle changes or habits upon your return?
“I think knowing I am going on the SwimTrek holiday means I want to be fit before I go so, I find that a big incentive to swim lots and maintain my fitness. So, I find the impact is probably more before I go then I want to keep it up when I get home.” – B. Perry (SwimTrekker)
What You Said
The majority of responses came from individuals aged 50-69, which is representative of our typical SwimTrekker.
However, the table below shows responses from various other bracketed age demographics as well.
These findings underscore our commitment to promoting the enhancement of our guests’ mental and physical health through active swimming trips around the world.
From the results we were able to determine the following:
- 70% of guests saw marked improvements to their mental health
- 65% saw improvement to their physical health (based on responses of ‘Better’ or ‘Much Better’)
- 62% said the experience would encourage them to be more physically active upon returning
“I had to dig quite deep mentally on one occasion to keep going and I’d have loved to give in... however I didn’t, and the satisfaction and achievement I felt on completion of that day was AMAZING. That’s always a bonus for anyone’s mental health!” – N. Sharrin (SwimTrekker)
What Your Responses Tell Us
The responses you gave to our survey tell us that swimming trips have a significant positive impact on our guests’ mental and physical health.
Swimmers like Kara (SwimTrekker) stated the experience provided a ‘brilliant reset’ from the pressures of daily life. She mentioned how the trip helped her to reassess her work/life balance and supported her mental, emotional, and physical health.
Marcella (SwimTrekker) shared that during her trip, she felt more positive, grateful, and confident. Her mental health improvement was primarily driven by being physically active and immersed in nature.
Notwithstanding the positive feedback, we have to also be mindful that 2% of our respondents did share negative feedback. It would not be fair for us to overlook any areas where we can improve our future operations.
Future Improvements
One influencing factor we would love to be able to control is the weather. A few respondents did mention adverse weather conditions that negatively impacted their trips. For example, John P (70-79, UK) pointed out that due to poor weather the group swam much less than usual, reducing the anticipated physical health benefits.
One thing we can do to counter this is to introduce more flexible itineraries. We are exploring the possibility of more alternative activities on days when weather conditions are not conducive to swimming. For instance, indoor fitness classes, yoga, or water safety workshops would keep participants engaged and physically active even when swimming is not possible.
Looking forward to 2025, SwimTrek holidays will continue to offer a powerful blend of physical activity, mental relaxation, and emotional rejuvenation. You can choose from a wide variety of experiences in stunning open water locations, away from daily life, which provide significant mental health benefits to the majority of participants, helping them feel more balanced and emotionally refreshed.
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