Taylor Butler-Eldridge (He/Him)

I recently completed my PhD in Human Geography at the University of Exeter, where my ESRC-SWDTP funded research explored the socio-cultural relationships between outdoor swimming and environmental health at Windermere. My PhD supervisors were Prof Stewart Barr, Prof John Wylie, Dr Jennifer Lea, and Prof Jo Little, and I am part of the Geographies of Health and Wellbeing (GHWRG) Research Group.

I passed my PhD thesis on the 1st April 2025 - examined by Dr Sarah Bell and Dr Kate Moles. I also recently completed an ESRC-funded placement as a Communications and Engagement Assistant for The Freshwater Biological Association, a collaboration with illustrator Bethan Thorsby on a research zine titled 'Swimming with Care at Windermere', and I hosted the 'Windermere Science Evening: Dips, Depths, and Directions' and the 'Outdoor Swimming Research Forum 2024'.

My research examined the diverse health experiences and complications associated with outdoor swimming in Windermere, England’s largest lake in the Lake District National Park. I explored how bodily, socio-cultural, political, and environmental factors shape swimmers’ relational experiences of ‘healthy’ outdoor swimming by drawing on a 12-month wet ethnography conducted at two popular public bathing sites. My research involved observing everyday swimming and lake activities, monitoring water and weather conditions, critically reflecting on my own embodied swim responses, and conducting one-to-one ‘swim-along’ interviews with outdoor swimmers and dippers.

My research advances work in health geographies and multidisciplinary studies of outdoor swimming and blue spaces, while fostering broader public engagement among existing and emerging communities connected to Windermere. For more information about the project, please visit www.swimdermere.com