Midsummer 5k swim challenge coaxing UK ‘off the couch’

Outdoor Swimming Society app provides swim programme ending with long-distance crawl at solstice

With gyms in Britain shut for much of last year almost a million people downloaded an NHS-backed fitness app over three months in an attempt to get up off the sofa and out for a run.

In subsequent lockdowns wild swimming converts have been evangelising about the healing powers of cold water.