About this Event
The Big Swim - Meet the Authors
Photo of Natasha Sones, Credit Natasha Sones
Photo of Jo Moseley, Credit: Jo Moseley
Photo of Heather Massey, Credit: Terry Scott
Photo of Nicky Chisholm, Credit Nicky Chisholm
9.15am – Doors open at Sea Lanes Event Space. If you want to arrive early you can grab coffee and breakfast at Fika Cafe next door.
9.30-10.45am – Welcome and Panel talks 10.45-11.00am– Q&A
11:00-11.15am – Book Signing and Photos
11:15 - Event Closes
11.45-12.45pm – If you are taking part on The Big Swim, make your way to registration area.
In the week of International Women’s Day, celebrate female togetherness and the healing power of water in the vibrant seaside city of Brighton. Held at Sea Lanes, with an incredible panel of women for whom healing is part of their stories. Afterwards, come along to join in The Big Swim with hundreds of other women!
Being near water can have a significant reviving effect on mind and body. This panel all have different challenging backgrounds but are brought together as part of a sisterhood relating to the open water. Through wild swimming, paddleboarding, kayaking, cold water research and just being in the outdoors, Natasha, Jo, Joyce and Heather all have unique and powerful personal stories. They have shared their stories through books and films, and will be speaking about their experiences at this intimate event.
The authors will be doing a book signing after the talk and their books will be available to purchase on the day.
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Meet the Panel
Jo Moseley – hosting the panel
Jo Moseley is an award winning, bestselling author of three books about the joy of paddleboarding, SUP Great Britain, SUP The Lake District and Adventures on the Water – The Power of Paddleboarding to Change Lives. She is a freelance creative, speaker and founder of Life to The Full – Celebrating 60 newsletter.
A beach cleaner, gig rower and sunrise sea swimmer, Jo attributes outdoor adventures – big and small – with helping her through grief, a crushing perimenopause, empty nesting as a single Mum and now – like many of us – caring for her 92 year old father.
In 2019, aged 54, having been told she was too old for the challenge, Jo became the first woman to paddleboard coast to coast litter picking and fundraising. A film about the adventure called Brave Enough – a Journey Home to Joy has been screened at adventure film festivals, such as Kendal Mountain Festival and Keswick Mountain Festival.
Jo also collaborated with fellow panellist Sara Barnes on Skinny, a beautiful short film about her experience of skinny dipping for the first time in her 60s, the freedom of ageing and what happens when one woman reaches out her hand to help another. It was shortlisted for the BMC Women in Adventure Awards and The Great Outdoors Magazine Film of the Year 2026.
In 2025, Jo curated and hosted two inspiring panels at the National Outdoor Expo and Kendal Mountain Festival called ‘You’re Not Too Old and It’s Not Too Late’ about the positive impact of outdoor adventures – big and small – for healthier, happier and longer lives.
It is an idea she hopes you – and anyone who will listen to her! – will also believe for yourself.
Instagram @jomoseley
Natasha Sones
Natasha Sones is a passionate year-round wild swimmer who loves all things to do with water. She is a wife and mother to three beautiful children Millie, Lucas and Logan. As a neurodivergent family, Natasha has been battling with getting support and appropriate education for her three children with additional needs. This has been a battle which has been ongoing for several years and took such a toll that Natasha gave up her job to focus on the family.
Natasha turned to the water to help provide some much-needed respite from caring responsibilities and found an entire community of like-minded friends there. It changed her life and she has just written her first guidebook, Swimming Wild in London and South East England (Vertebrate Publishing), to help others find swimming spots too. She swum in Brighton as part of The Big Swim 2025, a brilliant event which saw her swimming with friends and 500 other women to celebrate International Women’s Day. It is one of the places featured in her new book so she is absolutely thrilled to be here speaking about it.
Instagram @natashastarseeker
Www.natashasoneseditorial.com
Joyce Harper
Joyce is an avid cold water swimmer and author. She runs a wild swim and yoga retreat every year and volunteers for the Bluetit Chill Swimmers. Joyce is a professor of reproductive science at the Institute for Women’s Health at UCL and is passionate about empowering women to have good health and happiness. She works on women’s health across the life course, from puberty to post menopause.
She is one of the co-founders of SwimHer - a research group investigating cold water swimming and women’s health. The SwimHer team have published three papers including Joyce's study where she asked women if cold water swimming helped their menstrual and menopause symptoms. Her last book, Your Fertile Years: What You Need to Know to Make Informed Choices, covers puberty to menopause. Her latest book about life post menopause - Your Joyful Years: Empowering Good Health and Happiness Beyond 50 - will be out in spring. She hosts a podcast called Why didn’t anyone tell me this?
Instagram @ProfJoyceHarper
www.joyceharper.com
Heather Massey
Heather is an Associate Professor within the School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences. She has been a member of the Extreme Environments Laboratory since 2007 where she completed a PhD in the area of Environmental Cross-adaptation in Humans. Prior to that she worked at the Institute of Naval Medicine within the Environmental Medicine Unit for six years.
Heather’s research interests are in the area of water safety and the potential therapeutic use of cold water immersion. Where she is currently completing the first clinical trial to establish the clinical and cost effectiveness of cold water swimming with people experiencing symptoms of depression. She is also trustee of Swim the Wright and sits on the medical board of the Ectodermal Dysplasia Society.
In her spare time Heather is a keen open water swimmer having successfully completed a solo crossing of the English Channel, numerous other open water swims including relay swims from Dover to Brighton, round Jersey, Jersey to France, round the Isle of Wight as well as representing the UK in the World Ice Swimming Championships 1k event in 2017. This year she had a year off long distance swimming and completed two channel relays and a Beachy head 10 K swim!
Instagram: @drheathermassey
Nicky Chisholm
Nicky is an experienced Project Manager specializing in initiatives within the adventure and outdoor industry. Specialist areas of expertise include:
- Fundraising strategies and eye-catching PR stunts
- Creation of Brand Ambassador programs
- Marketing campaigns leading up to expeditions and charity events
- Organiser of The Big Swim - annual swimming event in the UK
- Runs PinkNickys Blog and Blog for the Outdoor Adventure sector
- Runs an online Builded your own Adventure Course
With a deep understanding of the unique demands and opportunities in the adventure sector, Nicky is dedicated to bringing your projects to life and success to your adventure missions.
Nicky has been exploring since she was 18. Recent adventures include searching for parrots in the Amazon rainforest, living off grid in Sweden, running in Greenland and a self supported cross country ski exped in Finland. She is a Rep for Surfers Against Sewage, loves her camper vans, wild swimming, beach saunas, and long walks always with a packet of Digestives!
She always has an adventure up her sleeve, in January 2026 she is off to the Arctic Circle in Sweden to try dog sledding and then in March she is taking part in the very first UK Ocean Advocate Marine Biology Academy.
Instagram @pinknicky1
www.pinknicky.com
Quotes from books:
“Swimming in the wild has changed my life.
For me it has reduced pain and inflammation physically, and helped heal me mentally. As well as the benefits of being in cold water, it is also like holistic therapy. There is also the exercise, being in nature and the camaraderie and beauty of swimming with like-minded people. My swimming friends have brought me so much joy. I have met such amazing and inspirational people and the camaraderie we have in the water is just lovely. It brings me peace, has introduced me to a community and washes away all my troubles.”
- Swimming Wild in South East England by Natasha Sones (Vertebrate Publishing 2026)
“Paddleboarding has opened up so many wonderful opportunities and friendships. It has quite literally transformed my life, and I know I am not alone in this experience.
I am humbled yet strengthened by time on my paddleboard. I am at my most alive and yet my calmest. I feel like everything and anything is possible. The post-paddle energy is when, quite simply, I feel like my favourite self.
Perhaps you do too?”
- Adventures on the Water - The Power of Paddleboarding to Change Lives by Jo Moseley (Vertebrate Publishing 2025)
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Sea Lanes Brighton, 300 Madeira Drive, Brighton, United Kingdom
GBP 11.55
