MySurreyHills #17
Perdita Hunt

Meet Perdita Hunt from Farncombe. Perdita has always had a strong connection to water, having grown up overseas swimming in the sea, but it was only after having been diagnosed with cancer that she reignited her love of swimming, realising that it was something she wanted to do more of. Perdita is now an advocate of wild swimming in the Surrey Hills.

“There is a benefit from pushing yourself and surprising yourself and stepping out from comfort into discomfort… There’s something about both the river and the sea that just embraces you, that’s the point, there is a relationship there and you’re part of something much, much bigger – that actually puts huge space in your head… Because you’ve done something that’s taken you right out of your comfort zone, the rest of the day is easy. You’ve done something that has really shaken your body.”

For Perdita, wild swimming is also about connecting with nature and being in tune with the natural world surrounding us:

“You don’t have to have a skill to be outside and enjoy nature, you just have to be… I find what nature does, whatever time of year, it is doing something extraordinary. Just taking the time to notice, makes one’s own particular concerns, position, feelings, mood so much smaller or so much part of something much bigger.”