Eastbourne coach champions neurodiversity at The Big Swim 2026
Eastbourne-based coach Zoé Carroll has taken on the role of Neurodiversity and Inclusion Ambassador for The Big Swim 2026, a major wild swimming event celebrating International Women’s Day.
The event took place this weekend across two locations, Brighton and Sandbanks in Dorset, bringing together more than 1,000 swimmers in what organisers describe as the South Coast’s largest outdoor swimming gathering.
Carroll, a neurodiversity coach who supports women experiencing anxiety and late-diagnosed neurodivergence, said the event aligns closely with her work helping women reconnect with themselves through community, nature and self-understanding.
“Cold water swimming has been incredibly powerful for many of the neurodivergent women I work with,” she said.
“It helps regulate the nervous system, quieten racing thoughts and reconnect people to their bodies. But just as important is the sense of belonging - being part of a supportive community where you can be completely yourself.”
Carroll is the founder of The Exceptional Minds Society, a community designed to support women who often feel different, overwhelmed, or misunderstood.
“Many of the women I work with have spent years feeling like they’re ‘too sensitive’, ‘too intense’, or simply struggling to cope with life,” she said.
“Often, they later discover they are neurodivergent. The shame and confusion that can come with that can be enormous. My work is about helping women understand their minds, regulate their emotions and build lives that truly work for them.”
The Big Swim took place in celebration of International Women’s Day, this year themed “Rights. Justice. Action. For All Women and Girls.”
Participants were encouraged to take one action to support and elevate women in their communities, from supporting female-owned businesses to volunteering with organisations that help women and girls.
For Carroll, that action means creating spaces where women can explore their identity and experiences without judgement.
“The Exceptional Minds Society exists so women can talk about their experiences openly,” she said.
“It’s a space for women who have spent years masking, overthinking or feeling like square pegs in round holes to finally feel understood.”
Carroll has been connected to the sea her entire life, growing up on the Cornish coast and swimming in the ocean whenever she could.
As a teenager she even became an environmental activist, campaigning about water pollution and supporting the charity Surfers Against Sewage, which is one of the organisations supported by The Big Swim.
The charity works to protect the UK’s oceans and tackle sewage pollution, an issue that has affected swimmers along the Sussex coastline in recent years.
“Wild swimming connects us to nature, to ourselves and to each other,” Carroll said.
“Bringing hundreds of people together in the sea is powerful. It reminds us that community and collective action can create real change.”
The Big Swim was organised by Nicky Chisholm, also known as PinkNicky, with swims hosted by Land and Wave in Dorset and Sea Lanes in Brighton.
Carroll hopes the event will inspire more women, particularly those who feel different or struggle with anxiety, to find supportive communities and new ways to reconnect with themselves.
More information about Zoé Carroll’s work supporting neurodivergent and anxious women can be found at: www.zoecarroll.com