An artists' painting of Victoria Thornton-Field supporting two swimmers into the sea. She is in the middle, holding their hands as they walk into the waves.
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Artwork by Debbie Dean: Victoria supporting two nervous swimmers into the sea

Our Story

Victoria Thorneton-Field, looking off camera whilst a group of swimmers enterthe sea behind her.

In 2020, Swim the Wight CIC was born. Led by swimmers for swimmers, STW aims to make swimming in the sea as accessible, safe and enjoyable as possible.

Because of this, STW’s founder Victoria Thorneton-Field built on reawakened awareness of the fantastic benefits of sea pools.  Her campaign to create a sea pool on the Isle of Wight is gaining attention and support from all areas.

Her vision, in line with the island’s designation as a UNESCO Biosphere, is of a pool which is ecologically friendly, accessible to all and free to use as a blue health resource.

A sea swimmer since childhood, Victoria wanted to understand why so few people were willing to take advantage of this free “blue health” resource. She wanted to learn why even fewer people use the sea on a year round basis. On top of this, Victoria wanted to know why virtually no-one with impaired mobility was getting into the sea.

We know many people are nervous of going into the sea. The Isle of Wight Sea Swimming Survey 2023 shows us that one of the top three reasons is FEAR. Victoria hopes that having access to a calm, current-free Sea Pool will help encourage nervous or even non-swimmers into the water.

To transform Victoria’s vision into reality we have formed the ISLE OF WIGHT SEA POOL LTD.

We are a company limited by guarantee and are currently applying for charitable status.

Click here to find out more about Swim the Wight.