Celebrating International Women's Day 2025

What a fabulous day celebrating International Women’s Day. A wonderful day trip to Brighton with friends… it was the perfect day for celebrating women, with other women. Here's how I celebrated IWD and it might be inspiration for you for next year.

The Big Swim - picture by ranierifilm.com

IWD Swim Talk

Firstly we went to Sea Lanes, a heated outdoor swimming pool, for a talk: how to weather the changes in life and how the power of water can help rewrite a chapter in your story.

Hearing these inspiring swim talks was the perfect way to kick off International Women’s Day. Featuring an incredible panel of women whom have weathered enormous changes in their lives; Emma Simpson, Jennifer Hartley, Ella Foote and Gillian Castle. Hosted by Juliette Parkin, BBC television news anchor and senior reporter.

It was the launch of Emma's debut book, Breaking Waves (Icon Books), an exploration of the beautiful and unique relationship of women with water around the world.

I loved hearing their powerful personal stories about events which have turned their lives upside down, and how they have written a new chapter, with the open water as a key part of this story.

Gill's story especially resonated - she became the first person to swim solo across the English Channel with a stoma, raising more than £50,000 for her charity, Chameleon Buddies, which supports women in the UK and Kenya to adapt to life after childbirth injuries or stoma surgery. Being next to the English Channel was especially poignant.

The Big Swim

Photo by ranierifilm.com

After the talks was the main event, The Big Swim, when a record-breaking 1,000 women dipped over two locations! One thousand swimmers united in Brighton and Sandbanks in Poole, Dorset. There was also a moment in history for Poole Lifeboat Station, as both boats launched with an all female crew as part of a training exercise.

Swimming with 500 women in the sea was just exhilarating. Adding in the bouncy waves and being with friends was so much fun. The day also raised awareness for Surfers Against Sewage.

There was fancy dress, colourful swimming costumes and lots of excited screams and wave jumping! Myself and my Bluetits friends loved it and we had a great time. It was an amazingly well organised event, hosted by PinkNicky, Land and Wave and Sea Lanes, Brighton.

Afterwards we warmed up from the ice cold swim with an all-year round wood-fired public beach sauna spa, based on Brighton Beach, Beach Box Sauna. It was so nice to warm up after a chilly sea swim of 9 degrees. I even braved the plunge pool bath briefly.