Mel Bardsley has never just “gone for a swim.” From representing her country in artistic swimming to winning BUCS university water polo championships and competing in National League Division 1, she’s spent a lifetime pushing limits in the water.

She’s swum the English Channel in a relay, claimed Masters surf lifesaving titles, and now coaches open water swimmers from her base in Bude, North Cornwall after leaving school teaching to launch Swimscape Cornwall. In this fun episode, we dive into the training behind elite artistic swimming, what pool swimmers can learn from it, her tips on cold water acclimatisation, and why she’ll choose the sea over a pool every time.

It’s a conversation about longevity, variety, and always finding your next challenge.

Visit Swimcape Cornwall here: https://swimscapecornwall.co.uk

In December, Dom Wooldridge broke the British Masters 100m butterfly record in the 30–34 age group - with an unexpected training partner: AI.

Unable to attend all his training sessions with City of Cardiff Swimming Club, Dom turned to AI-generated sessions to supplement his preparation. In this episode, he joins host Helen Gorman to share his firsthand experience of using AI to support his performance. Together, they explore how well this real-life experiment worked… and reveal some of the downsides, including the occasionally bold (and sometimes outrageous) suggestions AI produced along the way.

We catch up with masters swimmer Brad Price after he’s just wrapped up an epic January challenge: 100 pull-ups every single day - 3,100 in total - in support of a charity that helps retired military and police dogs live out their well-earned retirements.

Brad discusses the methods that kept him going, the moments that nearly broke him, and how grinding through thousands of pull-ups could translate into faster, stronger swimming in the pool. He also shares practical tips for anyone wanting to level up their pull-up game, along with honest reflections on the mental grit and physical resilience needed to see a challenge like this through.

If you can, support the cause at https://heropawsuk.enthuse.com — 3,100 pull-ups is an absolute monster of a challenge, and Brad smashed it for a brilliant reason.