Meet the Founder
Lorna Richardson
"My love for swimming fuels my coaching, and my curiosity to push my own limits helps me connect with those who are testing theirs."
Swim Traveller was born out of a simple, combined passion: a lifelong love for swimming and an insatiable desire to explore the world through swim travel. My journey into coaching began during my time working in a physical therapy facility — repeatedly seeing athletes returning with the same injuries, frustrated they couldn't understand what was going wrong biomechanically. I wanted to change that.
Why Swim Traveller?
Purposeful Swimming.
Effortless Luxury.
Every detail of a Swim Traveller trip is built around one idea: swimming in open water, real ocean, with real distance, is one of the most rewarding forms of swim travel and active travel in Europe available today. We layer in the culture, the food, and the destinations that make each region worth visiting, but the swim always comes first.
Every swim is coached and kayak-monitored, from island to island and shore to shore. Daily swims of 2 to 4km suit every level, from first-time open water swimmers to seasoned channel crossers. We meet you where you are. Whether you're chasing your first mile in open water or your fiftieth, our coaching adapts around your goals, not the other way around.
We balance exhilarating open-water miles with rich cultural excursions, authentic local dining, and plenty of time to simply be. This is active travel in Europe at its finest — swim travel that genuinely rejuvenates body and mind. We spend as much time choosing where not to go as where to go, favouring quiet anchorages and quiet tables over crowded itineraries.
It's all taken care of - From private en-suite cabins or high-end hotels, handpicked island tavernas & unique culinary experiences with seamless transportation logistics. Every detail is managed so you can focus entirely on the water. You won't spend your holiday managing logistics. That's our job, and we take it seriously.
The Swim Traveller Difference
The Luxury of
Smaller Groups
We cap every trip well below the size of a typical group tour, because the parts of swim travel worth remembering rarely happen in a crowd. Smaller numbers mean more water time, more personal coaching, and a group dynamic that feels like a gathering of friends rather than a tour.
Every swim is coached and kayak-monitored, from island to island. Daily swims of 2 to 4km suit every level, from first-time open water swimmers to seasoned channel crossers. Open water swimming is governed by World Aquatics, whose safety standards inform our approach in the water. Every swimmer finds their stride. That attention doesn't disappear once you've found your rhythm either - Lorna keeps adjusting the day's plan based on conditions, energy levels, and what each swimmer wants out of the water.
No crowded boats. No rushing. Smaller groups let us pivot seamlessly, exploring hidden coves larger tours can't reach and enjoying a peaceful, unhurried itinerary — the kind of adventure travel in Europe that stays with you long after you're home. It also means we can change plans on a whim if the wind picks up or a hidden cove looks too good to pass by, something a forty-person yacht could never manage.
There is a unique bond formed when a small group of like-minded adventurers shares the open ocean, table-side laughs, and sunsets on the deck. Our guests arrive as individuals and leave as a community. Many stay in touch long after the trip ends, meeting up for local swims, races, or simply to relive the trip over a glass of wine.
In open water, a smaller group means every swimmer gets real coaching attention — Lorna can read your stroke, spot fatigue early, and adapt the day's plan in real time. It also means access. A private yacht with twenty-odd guests can anchor where larger tour vessels simply cannot: the salt and freshwater lake inside a national park, the sea cave at the end of a pine-fringed channel, the cove that doesn't appear on any map.
The people who tend to join us are curious, active, and good company. The Adriatic, it turns out, is very good at finding them. It's a rhythm that's hard to manufacture at scale, and one we have no interest in growing past.
If you're looking for a big-group tour with a packed schedule and little flexibility, we're probably not the right fit. If you want real swim travel, the kind where you swim well, eat well, and actually get to know the six or eight people you're traveling with, you're in good company.
Start Your Journey
Ready to Swim the World?
Your next swim travel adventure awaits · Croatia 2027 · Greece 2026 · Mediterranean & Beyond
See All Upcoming Destinations →Common Questions
Frequently Asked
Not at all. Swim travel is for confident open water swimmers of many levels, from those completing their first mile to seasoned marathon swimmers. Lorna assesses everyone before the trip and adapts the daily coaching and swim distances to match the group. What matters most is comfort swimming in open water without a wall or lane line in sight.
Days are built around one or two coached swims, generally 2 to 4km each, broken up with time on shore or on deck, local meals, and plenty of downtime. Croatia trips move between islands aboard a private yacht, while Greece trips are based on land in Skopelos and Alonissos, with swims and excursions organized from a home base each day. Either way, the water always comes first.
Completely, and you're not alone. Most of our guests felt some nerves before their first trip. Every swim is kayak-monitored and coached, so there is always someone watching, sighting, and ready to help if you need a break. Many guests tell us the nerves faded within the first swim, once they realized how much support was around them the entire time.
Accommodation, all coached swims, most meals, and transportation between activities within the trip are included, along with Lorna's coaching throughout. International flights to the starting destination and travel insurance are not included. Full details for each specific trip, including exact inclusions and pricing, are listed on that trip's booking page.
We intentionally keep our groups small, usually under a dozen guests per trip, so that everyone gets real coaching attention in the water and a relaxed pace on shore. It's a size that suits the kind of swim travel we believe in, one that allows genuine flexibility in the itinerary and, more often than not, leads to lasting friendships long after the trip ends.