Finding a connection to her mother through open-water swimming
Original report:
In a personal essay published in October 2026, the Guardian’s Angela Giuffrida describes how sea swimming offered relief after her mother’s unexpected death. Guided trips brought confidence, friendships and a renewed connection to a parent who had loved the water.
Angela Giuffrida’s account traces her embrace of open-water swimming to a trip to Croatia in June 2024, eight months after her mother died unexpectedly. Struggling with anxiety, sleeplessness and grief, she prepared for a week of daily swims. A guide’s instruction in front crawl, along with flippers, helped her become more confident at sea.
She later joined swimming holidays in Greece and Turkey, completing the Turkish trip despite initial reluctance and being the group’s slowest swimmer. Writing in the Guardian on 27 October 2026, Giuffrida describes relief in the water and companionship through the tours. Swimming also prompted her to reconsider what the sea might have meant to her mother, who lived with depression and anxiety.
The essay offers a personal account of bereavement rather than evidence that swimming treats mental illness. Giuffrida links her wellbeing to movement, marine surroundings and friendships, but acknowledges that she never discussed swimming’s emotional significance with her mother. Their shared activity provides a connection whose meaning she is exploring after her loss.
Source
the Guardian — 27 October 2026
AI-assisted news digest · May be published automatically without editorial review.