A Black female filmmaker is exploring open water swimming as a tool for healing from grief in her powerful new project.
The film, Fifty Four Days, written by Cat White, follows the journey of a girl who starts wild swimming in the wake of her father taking his own life, and is based on true events in Cat’s life.
As well as exploring Black mental health, the film also pushes back against the archaic stereotype that says Black people don’t swim, and addresses issues of lack of accessibility to the water.
‘In January 2020, right before the first lockdown, I lost my uncle who had struggled his entire life,’ Cat tells Metro.co.uk.
‘He was so intelligent, hardworking and kind, but as a Black man the world just wasn’t kind to him.
‘Then, almost exactly a year later, I was totally blindsided by the news that a close friend had taken his own life. We were deep in the third lockdown by that point and with lockdown limiting every single one of the traditional ways of grieving, I turned to wild swimming.’
In those difficult times, Cat decided to do something proactive. She became mental health first aid trained and learnt about warning signs for those suffering from mental ill health.
‘I became aware that men (and Black men in particular) are most at risk,’ she says. ‘Inspired by this and trying to make sense of the hurt, I wrote Fifty-Four Days about a girl who starts wild swimming in the wake of her dad taking his life.
‘Writing it was (and is) definitely part of my healing journey and a way of processing, but also hopefully helping others who have gone through something like this.
‘It looks at loss and how we grieve but more importantly, Fifty-Four Days is about healing.’
Cat says she has been swimming since she was a little girl. She always loved how the water made her feel.
‘More than that though, I was good at it,’ she says. ‘I actually represented the Midlands (my county) as a swimmer when I was younger and could have gone further, but at some point in my teenage years I just stopped.
‘I really started to feel like it wasn’t a space for me. I hated what the chlorine did to my hair – it was genuinely embarrassed me.
‘It was really only this past year, when I was at my lowest point trying to understand losing my uncle and my friend and really not knowing where to turn, that I started swimming again.
‘My mum got me a SOUL CAP for Christmas 2020, and it literally changed my life. And honestly, the water healed me.
‘I swim in a lake near where I live and often (especially during the winter months) it is just me in the water.
‘It’s almost a holy place – my head clears, I have waves of euphoria and also waves of sorrow – but I am able to feel what I need to feel.’
Accessibility is a huge problem in swimming. Sport England revealed last year that 95% of Black adults and 80% of Black children in England do not swim.
One in four Black children leave primary school not knowing how to swim.
‘To put it simply, being able to access that lake and swim every day in the aftermath of my grief journey not only healed me, it saved me,’ says Cat.
‘The fact that swimming is inaccessible to so many people (especially Black people, but many other groups too) is so wrong.
‘How can people not see the link between this and alarming statistics – such as Black people being more likely to be diagnosed with severe mental illness than any other ethnicity in the UK?
‘People speak a lot about the healing benefits of swimming but rarely has it been considered that these are not benefits open to all. Why should wellbeing practices only be open to those who can afford them?
‘You can’t get much more natural than a body of water – if ever a space should be accessible to all then wild swimming is that space.
nI’m doing this for every little Black or brown girl who’s dreaming of becoming the next Alice Dearing of competitive swimming. I’m doing it for every person from an under-represented background who has dreams of working in the film industry.
‘But most importantly, I’m doing it for every Black or brown person who simply wants to give it a go and jump in.’
Beyond the important topics of the film itself, the production also places a huge focus on mental health and inclusion behind the scenes.
Cat has partnered with inclusive swimwear brand SOUL CAP with the aim of setting new standards in mental health, wellbeing, and inclusivity in the film production industry.
They believe they are the first production to have a dedicated mental health co-ordinator on set. They also have a programme of mental health training for their cast and crew, and inclusive training schemes to help people from under-represented backgrounds take their first steps into the film industry.
‘This is about much more than swimming,” said Michael Chapman, co-founder of SOUL CAP. ‘The film touches upon different areas of race and mental health – particularly Black men’s mental health – so we’re proud to be a part of the conversation around that.’
Fifty-Four Days is a Kusini Productions and Broken Flames Production film. Mental health and wellbeing co-ordination will be provided by Laura White Coaching.
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