Meet Kirsty Hogben
Kirsty is an open-water swim coach on a mission to inspire and educate others on the multitude of benefits of sea swimming. Kirsty’s journey started back in 2019 when she sustained a painful ligament injury whilst running the London Marathon. While in recovery, she found a profound love of swimming and set herself a challenge to swim in the sea, every day, for 100 days. This then became a whole year and since then, Kirsty has been recognized for swimming in the sea for over 1000 consecutive days, inspiring many with her passion and dedication. In 2021 she decided to share this passion with others and has qualified as an STA open water swim coach, helping over 500 individuals get into sea swimming and ‘Seas the day’.
I’ve always lived by the sea and have loved it. I was recovering from injury and couldn’t do much apart from swimming, and I was sitting on the beach one July evening when I set myself a challenge to swim in the sea, every day, for 100 days. I fell in love with the sea even more and decided to swim through my first winter.
What inspires your work?
The inspiration behind my work is my love for the ocean. My passion is being by the sea and in the sea, and being active outdoors in nature. Every swim for me is a mini-adventure and it’s transformative. It’s who I am and that’s why I do it every single day.
What are your personal sustainability goals?
I want to be a voice and part of the change we’re all trying to make, through making our beaches, oceans and natural spaces clean. We as a community can make a change and I want to be a part of that in everything I do, from spreading awareness and organising beach cleans to using more environmentally friendly and sustainable products in my daily life.
What does community mean to you?
Community is the reason for everything for me. Continuing to build community and empower people is really why I do what I do. My goal is to keep building a positive community where people can be inspired by the love of the sea and improve their health, wellness and happiness.
What’s your biggest achievement so far?
Swimming in the sea for over 1000 consecutive days. I have loved every single swim and always say ‘you never regret a sea swim.’ Through all of this, I have transformed my entire life. I’m happy, calm, and feel better than ever! Sharing my passion has also been one of my biggest achievements through helping others grow their own passion and confidence in the water.
Swimming in the sea every single day means I see upfront the impact of waste in the water and how much there really is. Every time I see waste floating on the water or on the beach, it makes me shocked. It’s the place in which we all love, and it’s sad to see waste tarnishing the beauty of nature. The sea shouldn’t be impacted by things that shouldn’t be there. It makes me want to make a change and spread awareness and as a community, we can make that change
