Cath Pendleton: The ice swimming ‘Merthyr Mermaid’

– Live from the Big Retreat festival

Cath Pendleton: The ice swimming ‘Merthyr Mermaid’ – Live from the Big Retreat festival

Cath Pendleton and Liv Bolton sitting on the sofa of the talks tent at The Big Retreat Festival in Pembrokeshire

Cath Pendleton works full-time in an office in Wales and is a single mum to two daughters. But she’s also swum an ice mile in Antarctica, won Bronze for Team GB in the World Ice Swimming Championships in Russia and completed a swim across the English Channel.

Cath’s inspired countless women to get outside and have an adventure, including TV presenter Louise Minchin, whom she persuaded to go free diving under the ice in Finland!

Also known as ‘the Merthyr Mermaid’ (referencing Merthyr Tydfil where she lived), Cath certainly knows about juggling real life to make time for outdoors adventures, and she had so many insights to share when I spoke to her at The Big Retreat Festival in Pembrokeshire.

Don’t miss Cath’s tips for getting started with ice swimming at the end of the episode, as well as a minute of the sounds of nature for a little bit of escapism in your busy day.

Cath’s episode of The Outdoors Fix is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. It’s also embedded below. I hope you enjoy it!

Liv x

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The Outdoors Fix is a podcast produced and hosted by Liv Bolton @liv_outsideuk

You can find photos of all the podcast guests on Instagram @TheOutdoorsFix

Cath Pendleton is @swimcathswim on Instagram

Listen to the other episodes live from the Big Retreat Festival:

David Haze: Prison to paddleboarding and breaking world records

Carys Rees: Mountain rescue volunteer and This Girl Walks founder

The Outdoors Fix book is now available: http://bit.ly/3GJDLJc

Read more about The Big Retreat Festival.

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Photo of The Big Retreat sign in the festival field overlooking the river
The tipi talks tent at the Big Retreat Festival
Tom and Liv on a tree platform on the Knepp Estate

This episode of The Outdoors Fix was kindly supported by outdoor footwear brand Merrell.

Merrell have kindly offered listeners of The Outdoors Fix a 20% off discount on their shoes at Merrell.co.uk So just use the code FIX20 which is valid on all full price items on their website.