Sarah Kennedy Norquoy - cold water swimming, living in Orkney and caring for her mum with dementia

Today we hear from Sarah Kennedy Norquoy. Sarah moved from Cambridge to the Orkney Islands, a single mum with her 2 children in 2008. She is now happily married and has lived in Orkney for 13 years.

When Sarah turned 49 she wrote a list of 49 things she wanted to do before she turned 50 and cold water swimming was one of those. She was hooked straight away. She describes how this list and the cold water swimming was part of a much bigger journey of self discovery. 

In January 2019, Sarah’s world was shattered by the death of a close friend and her mother’s dementia diagnosis, both within the space of two weeks. Sarah’s book, Salt On My Skin, details how she coped with these devastating events and the effect that cold water swimming had on her life.

In this episode we discuss some of the factors to consider to stay safe whilst wild swimming in the sea. Sarah has swum in the Orkney sea thousands of times and it was really interesting to hear what she’s learned in order to stay safe.

We touch on the mystique of living in Orkney and the importance of being immersed in nature, cold water swimming and the healing power of nature.

Sarah shares her experiences of supporting her parents whilst her mums dementia is steadily getting worse each day. It is an open and raw account of grief and worry about caring for a parent with such a devastating disease. Sarah says that although it is incredibly difficult there are still beautiful and tender moments that she will cherish forever.

You can find Sarah on Instagram @seasaltandsarah

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Love Katie x