Stylistic choice to use black and white in 2012.
Slow motion
Nationalistic music - was commissioned for 2012 London Olympics.
From everyone else's eyes, a man is swimming in the water at speed, however when the swimmer is the main focus on screen he is in slow motion - implicating elegance, and pureness as he swims through the English rivers, the way it focuses on how he swims connotes perfection.
Clear distinction between the swimmer and surface dwellers.
Narrative is up to the viewer to interpret.
Film is not concerned with character, main character is a blank slate who does nothing but stare and swim.
Little conflict in the film - no archetypal hero or villain needed.
Possible binary opposition, the swimmer is swimming through rivers and lakes not a swimming pool (as it's an Olympic commissioned piece) so there is a possible man vs nature opposition as the swimmer appears out of place.
Ambiguous ending, the swimmer sinks under the surface and doesn't come back up, this can be interpreted in several different ways, such as giving up.
There is no dialogue in this film.
The director appears to add several little moments in time where the perfection of the human potential