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Guest-curated by acclaimed fashion historian, writer, lecturer and broadcaster Amber Butchart, the exhibition dives into design's role in shaping our relationship with swimming, both in the water and beside it, across architecture, fashion and sport. To commemorate this superb show, the newest entry of our Book Club presents a shoal of serene swimming titles.

Explore the deep history of British bathing with Susie Parr, uncover treasured swimming spots scattered around London with Joe Minihane, pore over the absorbing photography of Soo Burnell and soak up a mesmerising memoir on elite water sports by Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell. As always, you will find a bundle deal here with 10% off and free delivery. Why not also check out our full Splash! exhibition range. Read on below. 

Susie Parr, published by Dewi Lewis (2011)

Susie Parr is a well-known writer, researcher and wild swimmer. She started to merge these modes of expression during the early noughties. After a decade of development, she crystallised them into this volume. Parr sails through a sequence of watershed events in British swimming. She divulges how Roman soldiers shaped the pastime, examines medical marvels in the Georgian era and identifies the influence bathing had on Romantic poets like William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge and John Keats. Moving into more contemporary waters, she cites how seaside resorts and package holidays rose to prominence and why climate change is affecting the recent resurgence. Parr’s engrossing prose, sweeping excursions, and admiration for swimming form an accomplished piece that affectionately archives this age-old but undying activity. She exemplifies that although the act has remained the same, it has continued to be a reflection of our times. Parr instructs us to preserve its legacy by plunging into its past, savouring it in the present and envisaging what it will evolve into.

Joe Minihane, published by Hoxton Mini Press (2025)

In 1999, much-loved nature writer Roger Deakin authored his breakout book, Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey Through Britain. Deakin's memoir became a cultural and commercial phenomenon, unleashing a modern wild swimming movement onto the nation. This text inspired travel journalist Joe Minihane's autobiography, Floating: A Life Regained (2017). Minihane devoted nearly three years to following Deakin’s swims to establish equilibrium in his everyday life. Minihane's debut became a beacon for his two subsequent projects. The guidebooks: An Opinionated Guide to Brighton (2023) and Swim London (2025) - in collaboration with publishing house Hoxton Mini Press. For the latter, Minihane selects his favourite forty-seven bathing spots in the city. His haunts include: Hampstead Mixed Bathing Ponds, London Aquatics Centre, Golden Lane Sport and Fitness, Brockwell Lido and The Chelsea Harbour Hotel and Spa. Are you searching for sublime spaces to tan, paddle and bathe this summer? Purchase this must-have trove, pencil in plans with your loved ones and make those precious moments matter.

- Roger Deakin

Soo Burnell, published 2021

Soo Burnell is an established fine art photographer. Her indelible pictures are lucid, potent and sensuous studies of architecture, cinematic imagery and human connection; taking influence from renowned filmmakers such as Stanley Kubrick, Wes Anderson and Bong Joon-ho. Over the past few years, she has developed her photo series, Poolside (2018 - ongoing). These frames focus on swimming locations, their structural elements and the bathers that rest ashore. In 2021, Burnell collected her most accomplished pictures from the project and curated them into the anthology, To the Water. She shot these works on sites throughout the United Kingdom and Europe, in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Harrogate, Manchester, London, Paris and The Hague. Her portraits are a pleasure to the senses; they situate you in these locations and allow you to familiarise yourself with the spirit of each place. You can almost smell the sea spray at Tyninghame Beach, stroke the scalloped Art Deco arches at Marshall Street Baths and hear the lifeguard holler instructions at Piscine Georges Hermant. Invest in her portfolio and experience it firsthand; you won't regret taking the plunge.

Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, published by Canongate Books (2024)

 Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell felt a pull to the water from an early age. She grew up in Kenya, learnt to swim in the Indian Ocean at four and immediately immersed herself in this pastime. She rigorously prepared, trained and raced throughout her adolescence and would mature into a recognised contender in competitive swimming. Over her trailblazing, decade-long tenure, she represented both Kenya and Great Britain. In 2010, she became the first Black woman to represent Britain and won the 50m and 100m breaststroke at the British Swimming Championships. Despite this, she decided to retire from the sport two years later. Following Ajulu-Bushell's withdrawal, she studied a BA Fine Arts degree at the University of Oxford, graduating in 2015. After completing her studies, she created several critically acclaimed projects in creative media. She founded the agency Nyar K’Odero (2018), produced the documentary Breakfast in Kisumu (2019), published the essay Hegemanic America (2021) and was appointed CEO of the foundation 10,000 Black Interns (2022). Last year, she came out with her autobiography, These Heavy Black Bones. In this text, Ajulu-Bushell relays her life and swimming career. She valorously reflects on Black identity, athletic success and the trauma she suffered in the industry.