Fiona Govan joined the slowest group on a Greek swimming holiday, and booked another

Three women in bright tangerine swimming caps set off first. They had a head start because they were the slowest, and the faster swimmers usually caught them before the deserted beach or sheltered cove where each swim ended.

One of them was Fiona Govan. She had turned 50 and wanted a birthday that would test her. She and two single, child-free friends, Samantha and Angela, booked a swimming holiday with Swimtrek, a company that runs them, based in Sivota, a seaside village in western Greece. She wrote about it for Business Insider.

A plan that did not quite happen

A self-described procrastinator, uneasy in public pools, she had meant to train for eight months. A floating adhesive strip that stuck to her goggles put her off swimming until the spring, when she went back to a local lake. By then she had a few weeks.

The holiday was 14 swimmers, two guides in a boat and about 4 km (2.5 miles) of swimming a day, split between a morning and an afternoon. The route ran around pine-lined coves and rocky islets in the Ionian Sea, between the mainland and Corfu.

The guides split the swimmers into three groups by ability, and the three friends were the slowest. They swam in flippers, and Govan used a snorkel so she could concentrate on breathing. They called themselves the Aperol Spritzers. Most of the others were at least ten years older than them, she wrote, and one, a 76-year-old from Sydney, had swum the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar.

“It’s about enjoying not enduring.” — Thomas, the group’s swimming guide, as quoted by Fiona Govan in Business Insider

Learning at the back

Govan said her swimming improved quickly. She watched how the faster swimmers moved, and they offered her tips. The guide’s other rule was that anyone who felt tired could climb into the boat: “You are on holiday after all,” he told them.

They ate at beachside tavernas, and in the evenings the three friends talked through their life stories. She wrote that the group made them welcome, and that by the end they felt part of the swimming “tribe”.

When she got home she booked another trip, with Samantha, Angela and five of the people they had met.

Why this matters

The NHS (the UK health service) lists it among its examples of vigorous activity, and recommends either 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week or 150 minutes of moderate activity, plus strengthening on two days. Four kilometres a day, day after day, is well past that.

The holiday also solved the problem that stops many people: being the slowest. A boat alongside, groups by pace and permission to use fins turned “not good enough yet” into “the group with the head start”.

Open water needs respect. The RNLI (the UK’s lifeboat charity) warned in May 2026 that cold water can put even strong swimmers at risk of cold water shock. If you get into trouble, its advice is to float: head back, ears under, breathe, then call for help or swim to safety once your breathing is under control.

Getting ready for one

• Start in a pool, at your own pace, with the wall to rest on. Count lengths to see the progress.
• Then try supervised open water. A lido, a lake with lifeguards or a club session. The RNLI says the safest sea swimming is between the red and yellow flags on a lifeguarded beach.
• Ask the company the questions that matter. How far each day, how the groups are set, whether a boat follows, and whether fins are allowed.
• Check with your GP (family doctor) first if you have a heart condition or have not exercised for a while. In an emergency at the coast in the UK, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard; in the US, call 911.

For a gentler way into the water, read our guide to swimming and cycling. For what the far end of open water swimming looks like, read about Amy Appelhans Gubser’s 17 hours in the Pacific.