Big Blue Team

Always combining the artistic with the athletic, Michael started playing ‘professional’ volleyball with the Greek team Panathinaikos during his high school years. This continued in the UK (where he was a Fine Art student) playing for Leeds Volleyball Club where he was involved both with national and international tournaments. He went on to being awarded the prestigious “player of the year” in Division 1 of the National Volleyball League in England.

During his compulsory military service in Greece he wasn’t far from the sea, and served in the Navy also being part of the Naval Volleyball team and taking part in various tournaments with other international players. During his two years military service he learnt to read sea maps and gained a wider understanding of the Greek seas.

Michael has previously been Director of his own company and as a co-founder of The Big Blue and qualified captain of the boat, he brings extensive knowledge and experience of his homeland Greece and its islands, be it the eptanisa on the Ionian Sea or the Cyclades and Dodecanese on the Aegean. He plays a vital role in safely navigating the swim routes and his organisational abilities are second to none, so is his collection of speedos.

Her other love is art. Obtaining a PhD in 2010 in the Philosophy of Art she has a passion for both the ancient and the contemporary. She has exhibited at numerous galleries internationally and her recent work is inspired by open water and channel swimming.

A convert to open water swimming in 2008 she started swimming 3.8k races and found it rather enjoyable!. As a member of the British Long Distance Swimming Association Lisa swam the length of Derwentwater in 2011 to win the BLDSA 2 mile event, she has also won medals in her age group at both the ASA Midland Open Water Championships and ASA National Open Water Championships and has taken part in a numerous open water races in rivers, lakes and the sea. She has been part of the biennial 2swim4life national event held at Guildford Lido, swimming 17 miles. She was organiser and team member of the 2012 Etwall Eagles English Channel Relay Team, swimming the channel in 11 hours and 45 minutes. In recent years she has started competing in triathlon and plans to undertake an Ironman distance in the near future.

Lisa has swum The Big Blue swim routes on numerous occasions and in different weather conditions and seasons. She has also undertaken a variety of supported solo swims in Greece; near Athens in the bay of Marathon, Porto Rafti and Vouliagmeni, a number of the Cycladic islands, many seaside places in the Peloponese, in beautiful Monemvasia, Crete, Kythira, Samos, Kefallonia and Zakynthos.

He began his aquatic journey with swimming, which has always been his core discipline. From his teenage years onward, his physical relationship with water expanded to include sailing, windsurfing, free diving, scuba diving, kite surfing, stand-up paddling, surfing, body surfing, monofin swimming, and several other water sports. Today, he has refined his approach to the water, letting go of his “floating toys” to focus on swimming, free diving, and body surfing. He can often be spotted swimming various solo routes along the shores of Crete and exploring the many underwater caves the island has to offer. Noa has managed several water sports centers and has also worked as a sailing skipper. Additionally, he served as a lifeguard and lifeguard instructor in Greece for nine years (2004-2012) during the summer seasons. As a lifeguard instructor, he was responsible for the complete training of potential lifeguards, from the very beginning to the final diploma exams. He has supervised a team of lifeguards and held his own beach position. This is a man truly at one with the ocean

ETHOS “We protect what we love, so I have sought to educate myself about the ocean and its ecosystem. I have gained an understanding of the ocean, which has influenced my life choices toward environmental conservation. Having spent many years researching and interacting with cetaceans, I have learned to appreciate the spiritual aspects of the ocean. This understanding led me to study various healing arts related to water. Water completely envelops anyone who immerses themselves in it, penetrating every part of one’s existence—as it has mine. To the ocean, I belong, flowing to her song…”

Cate was always the first one to plunge into the freezing Loch in the rain on those childhood holidays in Scotland, and she spent most of her youth ploughing a furrow in local swimming pools as a competitive swimmer. Approaching the age of 40 she found herself back in the water training for Masters events and took to the open water during her initial foray into triathlon. After that, she never looked back!

Since then Cate has become a keen open water swimmer and has competed in Open Water events across the country and has travelled worldwide to participate in Long and Middle-Distance triathlon events, even managing to sneak into the GB Age Group team. She has completed long swims in some beautiful locations, including Ullswater, Windemere, Coniston, Bala and Loch Lomond, lots of smaller Scottish Lochs and Lake Annecy. She has crossed the English channel and swam round Jersey as part of relay teams. She also spent a lot of time swimming along the Jurassic Coast in Dorset and has guided swimmers on the iconic swim from Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door.

Cate is an experienced swim teacher and ASA swim coach, as well as a dedicated open water coach, personal trainer, cycling instructor and triathlon coach. Cate is also part of the GB ice swimming team and a world record holder in her age group. After nearly 20 years teaching Science in secondary education Cate is now engaged primarily with her passion for sport, delivering coaching and instruction in swimming and cycling. She is embracing life working with people who share her passions for the outdoors, an active lifestyle and all things wet, as she strives to achieve some balance in life. In addition to all of this Cate is now in the GB ice swimming team, and holds a world record in her age group.

As a teenager she competed for local clubs at County level, then continued competing at university and on to the Royal Air Force. Her love for open water swimming came through the RAF getting to compete in numerous events such as a Cross Channel relay race; I remember watching a good friend of mine start and finish our relay and thinking I need to do this solo………fast forward a few years, that mate who promised to be my ‘boat boy’ was cheering me on as I completed my English Channel solo. I’ve also had the privilege to swim round the beautiful island of Jersey both as part of a relay team and as a solo, a swim I would highly recommend. Now having left the RAF after 11 years of service, the opportunity to combine her passion of swimming, coaching and travelling around the gorgeous Greek islands works perfectly with her new career as a sports masseuse and personal trainer. 

Always the adventurer and fitness fanatic you’ll often find her racing about, doing challenges, carrying anchors; no wonder her husband says she is like a collie dog, always needing to be active! 

Ethos

Do what makes you happy and smile, enjoy the adventure. 

He took up open water swimming in 2005 and since then has competed in more than 100 events over distances from 500m to 10km in Australia, South Pacific, New York City, Croatia, England, Wales and Scotland.

He moved to Glasgow Scotland in 2014 and slowly made the adjustment to swimming in the cooler waters of the Scottish lochs; first in a wetsuit, but more recently without. He has swum the length of several lochs with his longest swim to date just over 17km. His latest challenge is ice swimming in water of 5c or lower wearing only one pair of his extensive range of swimwear (or budgy smugglers as he likes to call them). He has successfully swum an ice km (one km in water under 5c), an event that is perhaps one day destined for the Winter Olympics.

Some would say he is only truly happy when he is in cold water, but he has shown he can enjoy the clear warm Greek water just as much. He has guided in both Lefkada and Crete, and provides plenty of advice to swimmers due to his experience as both a swimmer and a qualified open water swim coach.

She grew up learning to swim in rivers and the big rolling waves on the south coast and had to learn to swim properly when deciding to race as a triathlete.

At home her work is a mix of teaching cycling skills to children and adults; building and running sports events around the country; (everything from the Commonwealth Games to mucky off road races)  open water swim coaching and kayaking or boat driving as safety cover at events - a complete mix of skills! In her downtime, she competes as a GB age-group triathlete and squeezes in training around work - most likely a run, but definitely not yoga (though she knows she should!).

ETHOS

As a youngster in Southampton, she trained with The City of Southampton Swim Club and nowadays is enjoying competitive swimming with the Masters team.

Outside the water, she shows her creative streak working as a freelance makeup artist, photographer and social media guru! Like many, Jenny finds open water swimming as a great escape from the stresses of the modern world and is a believer that “the Ocean has special healing powers” both physically and mentally.  

As a swimmer, she has competed at National level and recently at Hampshire Masters Championships and various charity open water swims. Jenny is a powerful swimmer and her specialism is in the gruelling 200m Butterfly and the 200m IM.  
Combining her photography work and swimming, not surprisingly, underwater photography has become a huge passion for Jenny.  So if any keen Mermaids or Mermen are wanting to capture that magical underwater moment, Jenny is your girl!  

Ethos

No one ever regrets a swim

Sam currently holds the World record for being the fastest female to swim Lake Geneva (72.8km). She has also swum Loch Awe (fastest known time), Loch Lomond and Loch Ness, all 36km. During winters she has completed an ice mile, extreme mile and competed in the 1km at the Ice Swimming World Championship, where she won a silver medal. 

She has coached open water swimming year round in the UK for the past 7 years and loves it! Sam enjoys helping people find their love for open water swimming and watching their confidence grow. 

Away from the water Sam works for a small charity as an Infant Feeding and Parenting Practitioner. She supports families during pregnancy and a child’s early years helping them to thrive. She has 2 young children of her own who she believes have taught her a lot about the world. Her mixture of roles require patience and encouragement which she tries to bring to her role at The Big Blue Swim.

Now vintage ish; she never left swimming and swims almost daily - for exercise, strength and clarity. She loves to swim. These days she is not into competition and is definitely not into cold water - you will only ever find her ‘beside’ a Scottish loch!

Before having children she had a career in luxury travel marketing and leading groups to all four corners of the world, she has lived in a number of countries and speaks a few languages. As a swim teacher she had her own swim school on Bali whilst living there. She is a yoga teacher and has worked with top football clubs, athletes, swimmers and people of all ages. She is passionate about swimming and holidays and loves helping people get the most out of them both. She also quite likes being a mermaid.

Ethos - Live now - you never know what is around the corner; be happy.

She completed her first open water swim event in Lake Windermere in 2017, her passion for open water swimming led her to coach swimmers in Wales and Scotland and run cold water swimming and yoga retreats in the stunning Black Mountains of mid-Wales.  Now, when away from her desk job, Emilie has started to focus on swimming camps and retreats in the beautiful Scottish lochs.  Emilie has guided for The Big Blue Swim in Crete and Lefkada. As a non-wetsuit swimmer, Emilie thrives in the cold, but after being introduced to The Big Blue Swim in 2018 she uses the warm, clear waters of Greece as motivation during the winter months.

He is a qualified Open Water swimming coach, Assistant Club Coach and pool Swimming Teacher. He has a passion for open water swimming stemming from a competitive swim career regionally and nationally as a child. He loves long distance open water swims and has a soft spot for the English channel – he has completed this feat solo a total of six times, he was just 17 years old the first time he completed it.   He was in the British Open Water Swimming Team for 8 years and is a former Double World Cup Long Distance Swimming Champion (25km). Marc has also been inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.