Big Blue Team

Always combining the artistic with the athletic, Michael started playing ‘professional’ volleyball with the Greek team Panathinaikos during his high school years. This continued in the UK (where he was a Fine Art student) playing for Leeds Volleyball Club where he was involved both with national and international tournaments. He went on to being awarded the prestigious “player of the year” in Division 1 of the National Volleyball League in England.

During his compulsory military service in Greece he wasn’t far from the sea, and served in the Navy also being part of the Naval Volleyball team and taking part in various tournaments with other international players. During his two years military service he learnt to read sea maps and gained a wider understanding of the Greek seas.

Michael has previously been Director of his own company and as a co-founder of The Big Blue and qualified captain of the boat, he brings extensive knowledge and experience of his homeland Greece and its islands, be it the eptanisa on the Ionian Sea or the Cyclades and Dodecanese on the Aegean. He plays a vital role in safely navigating the swim routes and his organisational abilities are second to none, so is his collection of speedos.

Her other love is art. Obtaining a PhD in 2010 in the Philosophy of Art she has a passion for both the ancient and the contemporary. She has exhibited at numerous galleries internationally and her recent work is inspired by open water and channel swimming.

A convert to open water swimming in 2008 she started swimming 3.8k races and found it rather enjoyable!. As a member of the British Long Distance Swimming Association Lisa swam the length of Derwentwater in 2011 to win the BLDSA 2 mile event, she has also won medals in her age group at both the ASA Midland Open Water Championships and ASA National Open Water Championships and has taken part in a numerous open water races in rivers, lakes and the sea. She has been part of the biennial 2swim4life national event held at Guildford Lido, swimming 17 miles. She was organiser and team member of the 2012 Etwall Eagles English Channel Relay Team, swimming the channel in 11 hours and 45 minutes. In recent years she has started competing in triathlon and plans to undertake an Ironman distance in the near future.

Lisa has swum The Big Blue swim routes on numerous occasions and in different weather conditions and seasons. She has also undertaken a variety of supported solo swims in Greece; near Athens in the bay of Marathon, Porto Rafti and Vouliagmeni, a number of the Cycladic islands, many seaside places in the Peloponese, in beautiful Monemvasia, Crete, Kythira, Samos, Kefallonia and Zakynthos.

He started his watery life with swimming, and that has always remained his core discipline. Then from his teen years onwards his physical relationship with water expanded with sailing, windsurfing, free diving, scuba diving, kite surfing, stand up paddling, surfing, body surfing, monofin swimming and quite a few other derivatives! Today he has purified his way of interacting with the water and let go of his “floating toys” to focus on swimming, free diving and body surfing. He can frequently be spotted swimming various solo routes off the shores of Crete and exploring and free diving in the many underwater caves the Island of Crete has to offer.

Noa has also managed several water sports centres, as well as had a stint as a sailing skipper. Additionally he has been a lifeguard and lifeguard instructor in Greece for nine years (2004-2012) over the summer seasons.

As a lifeguard instructor he was in charge of the complete training of a potential lifeguard, from the very beginning until the final diploma exams. He has also supervised a group of lifeguards and held a beach position of my own. This is a man truly at one with the ocean.

ETHOS

” we protect what we love, so I have sought to educate myself in matters of the ocean and its ecosystem. I have gained an understanding of the ocean and as such this has resulted in life choices based on environmental conservation. Having spent many years researching and interacting with cetaceans, they have taught me to understand the spiritual aspects of the ocean. This in turn brought me to study numerous healing arts related to water. Water completely envelops whoever immerses in it and as such, penetrates every part of one’s existence, as it has done with mine. To the ocean I belong, flowing to her song…”

She was always the first one to plunge into the freezing Loch in the rain on those childhood holidays in Scotland, and she spent most of her youth ploughing a furrow in local swimming pools as a competitive swimmer. Approaching the age of 40 she found herself back in the water training for Masters events and took to the open water during her initial foray into triathlon. After that, she never looked back!

Since then Cate has become a keen open water swimmer and has competed in Open Water events across the country and has travelled worldwide to participate in Long and Middle-Distance triathlon events, even managing to sneak into the GB Age Group team. She has completed long swims in some of Britain most beautiful locations, including Ullswater, Windemere, Coniston, Bala and Loch Lomond, and has crossed the English channel as part of a relay team. She has also spent a lot of time swimming along the Jurassic Coast in Dorset and has guided swimmers on the iconic swim from Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door.

Cate is an experienced swim teacher and ASA swim coach, as well as a dedicated open water coach, personal trainer, cycling instructor and triathlon coach. After nearly 20 years teaching Science in secondary education Cate is now engaged primarily with her passion for sport, delivering coaching and instruction in swimming and cycling. She is embracing life working with people who share her passions for the outdoors, an active lifestyle and all things wet, as she strives to achieve some balance in life.

When away from her ‘patch’ she is constantly in search of water and is always the first in and the last one out. Although there is not a competitive bone in her body she has taken part in several organised events recently including the River Dart 10k in Devon, U.K and the Brownsea Island swim, U.K. She has been a qualified beach lifeguard since her early twenties and has worked as an adventure holiday swim guide in both Croatia and Greece.

In summer 2012 she completed a 10 mile length of Windermere with a few friends (and much laughter!) She also organises the North East Skinny Dip, which takes place at sunrise on Druridge Bay on the Autumn Equinox. The event celebrates nature and life and is becoming very popular. In 2014 over 300 dippers joined her for a dip in the nude! Every year the dip attracts international media attention and has also featured on Robson Green’s ‘More Tales From Northumberland’ in February.

Check out the episode here…..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8kYaQJubS0 NESD 2015 promises to be bigger and better still!

Having done long shifts as a paramedic for twelve years, Jax has finally chosen time over money and, now part-time, enjoys filling her time with the things she loves. Gardening, knitting, hooping, yoga, acrobatics, ukulele, singing and general self-discovery!

ETHOS

“Just keep swimming Just keep swimming Just keep swimming swimming swimming What do we do we swim, swim, swim OH HO HO How I love to swim When you WAAAAAANNTTT to swim you want to swim - (Dory, Finding Nemo)”

As a teenager she competed for local clubs at County level, then continued competing at university and on to the Royal Air Force. Her love for open water swimming came through the RAF getting to compete in numerous events such as a Cross Channel relay race; I remember watching a good friend of mine start and finish our relay and thinking I need to do this solo………fast forward a few years, that mate who promised to be my ‘boat boy’ was cheering me on as I completed my English Channel solo. I’ve also had the privilege to swim round the beautiful island of Jersey both as part of a relay team and as a solo, a swim I would highly recommend. Now having left the RAF after 11 years of service, the opportunity to combine her passion of swimming, coaching and travelling around the gorgeous Greek islands works perfectly with her new career as a sports masseuse and personal trainer. 

Always the adventurer and fitness fanatic you’ll often find her racing about, doing challenges, carrying anchors; no wonder her husband says she is like a collie dog, always needing to be active! 

Ethos

Do what makes you happy and smile, enjoy the adventure. 

He took up open water swimming in 2005 and since then has competed in more than 100 events over distances from 500m to 10km in Australia, South Pacific, New York City, Croatia, England, Wales and Scotland.

He moved to Glasgow Scotland in 2014 and slowly made the adjustment to swimming in the cooler waters of the Scottish lochs; first in a wetsuit, but more recently without. He has swum the length of several lochs with his longest swim to date just over 17km. His latest challenge is ice swimming in water of 5c or lower wearing only one pair of his extensive range of swimwear (or budgy smugglers as he likes to call them). He has successfully swum an ice km (one km in water under 5c), an event that is perhaps one day destined for the Winter Olympics.

Some would say he is only truly happy when he is in cold water, but he has shown he can enjoy the clear warm Greek water just as much. He has guided in both Lefkada and Crete, and provides plenty of advice to swimmers due to his experience as both a swimmer and a qualified open water swim coach.

Mia worked as an adventure holiday swim guide for five years, living and working all over the Mediterranean and Americas, from Croatia to the Caribbean, and swimming in some of the world’s most beautiful places. Greece, however, has a special place in Mia’s heart where she has swum around the myriad islands of the Small Cyclades and Dodecanese Islands, and returns to visit every year.

Mia has been coaching swimming for over 25 years to all ages and levels and has a passion for sharing her love of swimming with others. She is currently the head swim coach at a private school in Cape Town and is a freelance journalist when she is not swimming or coaching.

ETHOS

“Life is better when you are swimming.”

In 2013 Kate completed a 21 mile two-way Lake Windermere swim and in August 2014 she successfully swam the English Channel as a solo, landing at Pointe du Riden, south of Cap Gris Nez, after 13 hours 20 minutes. 2016 saw Kate swim the prestigious 26km Lake Zurich Marathon swim.

Kate also enjoys holidays in the water and was privileged to be a swimming guinea pig on the pilot trip for The Big Blue, where she fell in love with the clear blue Ionian sea. She is at her happiest being by, on or in water. A twenty-five year career as a teacher, in both secondary and primary schools, means that she is well equipped to pass on her knowledge. Kate is a qualified ASA Club Coach, teaching and coaching at Basingstoke Bluefins from 2001 until her move to Cornwall in 2010.

Kate lives 2 minute walk from Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall with her patient husband, Steve. With their children now grown up, when not swimming with one of the local open water groups, or taking new converts out in the sea, she loves walking, boating, travelling abroad and going on road trips in Ron, their beloved VW campervan.

ETHOS

“Swimming with friends and enjoying the experience is just as important as stretching your limits”

As a youngster in Southampton, she trained with The City of Southampton Swim Club and nowadays is enjoying competitive swimming with the Masters team.

Outside the water, she shows her creative streak working as a freelance makeup artist, photographer and social media guru! Like many, Jenny finds open water swimming as a great escape from the stresses of the modern world and is a believer that “the Ocean has special healing powers” both physically and mentally.  

As a swimmer, she has competed at National level and recently at Hampshire Masters Championships and various charity open water swims. Jenny is a powerful swimmer and her specialism is in the gruelling 200m Butterfly and the 200m IM.  
Combining her photography work and swimming, not surprisingly, underwater photography has become a huge passion for Jenny.  So if any keen Mermaids or Mermen are wanting to capture that magical underwater moment, Jenny is your girl!  

Ethos

No one ever regrets a swim