Swimming a Long Way Together

Very honoured to have been part of the Swimming a Long Way Together project by artist Vanessa Dawes. 

SALWT was a celebration of the endurance swimmer Mercedes Gleitze, who, 90 years ago completed a 47 hour non stop swim in Worthing swimming pool (she had previously swam many other immense bodies of water, this was just where the story came to a close). It was usual on her endurance swims to have entertainers performing from a boat/the poolside so that's what happened! At the final event in Sea Lanes pool, Brighton, volunteer swimmers did laps in a relay for the whole 47 hours and people acted, sang, showed video and made soundscapes from the poolside (and in one case via linkup from France). 

My set was in the middle of night which added an extra layer of magic to proceedings and I performed a 90 minute version of my work Carnival of the Seas, a Saint-Saens referencing suite of tunes and songs all about creatures from the deep, some real, some mythical. It was chilly but immense fun and I hope to release the music in a condensed form and  perform it again to a non submerged audience! 

You can find out more about Mercedes here at the official website of the project https://www.swimmingalongwaytogether.com/