Places to Swim

[mmenard]

Hello,

Hopper's lane pool in Axford, near Marlbrough, Wiltshire. when the main road from Marlborough passes trough Axford, you will see a green sign for "Hopper's Lane" footpath. take it and you'll find a pool just after a weir. (warning, the village of Axford is divided in 2 bunches of houses. coming from Marlborough, you will se a Axford sign and houses, then fields, the footpath is from the second group of houses after the fields.)

the pool is not very big but you can do some serious swim against the current. strong current after the weir so you can only swim at the back of the pool, not in the middle. easy to enter the pool. gravel/small rocks bottom. used by locals, but I've never seen it advertised on swimming websites. The Kennet is a mostly shallow chalk stream. there are other beautiful deep pools but they are on private land

[AdamEssexSwimr]

Hi there Guys,

Coming on here after a while of researching to no avail.. i'm living in Basildon, Essex (for my sins) and am searching for somewhere to practice open water swimming reasonably close to me.. Main problem being that I dont drive, but I do cycle.. It looks so far that I only have Gosfield Lake near Braintree which runs VERY early in the morning saturday sessions or the river Cam (although i'm not sure exactly where I can jump in safely for a dip along that one.. dont know the area) .. neither of which are ideal..

Now i've finished wittering on, something I do far too much of, does anyone know somewhere a touch closer?

Cheers!

[Leprechaun]

I just got news that I've been accepted for the swim at end August.

10km - nothing dramatic in terms of distance, but:

Its draped in history - Robert the Bruce had his encounter with the spider in a cave on Rathlin.

It has a whirlpool to the south of the island - when the tides are right (wrong...?) called Corryvreckan

Its likely to be about 12-13, 14C if lucky. Sealife includes the odd basking shark plus cold-water-hardened jellies

The swim was done for the first time in 30 years last year by someone suitably attired...Just spoke to my Dad who politely declined the offer to accompany me in the RIB.

There are 16 of us going in an invitation swim (big Ned Denison is another in the group)

Go google Rathlin, particulary images on google.

[alibud]

how lucky are you mr L ??
that looks amazing - hope you get some great photos to share

[Leprechaun]

Here we go for another one. Relay 14th June, e-fitz joining in too we hope to add some oomph to the six person team.

No pics - not sure its even been done before.

Early season to keep clear of jellies (how do they know its early season?). We're going from North to South.

Wildie - its near you, what sort of weather and sea temp can we expect?

[Wildswimmer]

Originally Posted by Leprechaun

Wildie - its near you, what sort of weather and sea temp can we expect?

In a normal year you should be able to rely on reasonably warm, settled weather with sea temps around 12C.

However so far this year has been anything but, with yet another wintry blast possible next week!!

Current sea temp at the Mersey bar is just over 8C. This time last year it was 13C. The deeper water around the IOM won't have chilled as much during the persistant cold weather, but on the other hand it takes much longer to warm up.

Finally, I don't want to be a wet blanket but statistically no year ending in "8" has had anything more than an average summer.

Wildswimmer Pete

i see from rob fryers list as supplied by wildswimmer that there are a couple of sites mentioned in norfolk but anyone done much swimming in the broads? i have been told they are v shallow and lots of mud. and i have been told i will get sucked into the mud and die. advice given by a non swimmer obviously?
i quite fancy reedham. anyone any evperience?

[Wildswimmer]

Originally Posted by amanda.corndoll

i have been told i will get sucked into the mud and die. advice given by a non swimmer obviously?

Not just a non-swimmer but obviously a complete (insert expletive of choice). Mud doesn't "suck you down".

For an explanation take a look at the "Mud" bit on my "Estuaries" page.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/wildswimme..._estuaries.htm

Wildswimmer Pete

how did i miss the fact you had a website? great site pete. i suppose the reason that people think you get sucked down into mud is the sucking noise you describe as the vaccume is filled when you pull your foot out. i wonder too if a lot of this i sthat people are told these scare stories as kids to keep them out of the water etc. and people often do not re think these things as they grow older and accept them as truths which they pass on. hmm.

[Brick]

Originally Posted by amanda.corndoll

i see from rob fryers list as supplied by wildswimmer that there are a couple of sites mentioned in norfolk but anyone done much swimming in the broads? i have been told they are v shallow and lots of mud. and i have been told i will get sucked into the mud and die. advice given by a non swimmer obviously?
i quite fancy reedham. anyone any evperience?

Before I started open water swimming, one person I contacted had a website where they mentioned swimming in the broads. I did email her and got a response, describing some of the aquatic wildlife she'd seen. I don't think I could find the email again, and I've searched online and can't find the original page. But you might want to search harder online and see what you find.

[Leprechaun]

Swimtrek Distance Training, Gozo last week.

Xlendi Bay - looking out from the hotel on the sea front. We actually did a two-hour swim from up the coast, tide-assisted and swam into the bay to finish - marvellous.

Others are Fungus Rock where we do the six hours swim and overlooking the Blue Lagoon on Comino where we went for our recovery (aka loafing) day after the big six. We swam in all the places you see in the pics - 16C, but glorious. I recommend it to the house

[Juicy Lucy]

Originally Posted by Leprechaun

I recommend it to the house

Great idea for a SwimClub Swimtrek some time in the future.

[happySwimmer]

Originally Posted by Leprechaun

Swimtrek Distance Training, Gozo last week.

Xlendi Bay - looking out from the hotel on the sea front. We actually did a two-hour swim from up the coast, tide-assisted and swam into the bay to finish - marvellous.

Others are Fungus Rock where we do the six hours swim and overlooking the Blue Lagoon on Comino where we went for our recovery (aka loafing) day after the big six. We swam in all the places you see in the pics - 16C, but glorious. I recommend it to the house

I'm booked (on a "normal" trip not a long distance trip) for August. I went with a friend last year and had a brilliant time, so we are going again with two more friends this year.

I'd be up for a SwimClub SwimTrek holiday.

[Leprechaun]

Swimtrek are more than happy to organise a Group Tour, along the lines as some of us have been on in Gozo. I have asked them to give me some indicative rates for a similar event, perhaps with less emphasis on big long swims, but something more challenging than their normal holiday format. It would be a great introduction to open water and a great holiday too.

[KatieBun]

Originally Posted by Leprechaun

Swimtrek are more than happy to organise a Group Tour, along the lines as some of us have been on in Gozo. I have asked them to give me some indicative rates for a similar event, perhaps with less emphasis on big long swims, but something more challenging than their normal holiday format. It would be a great introduction to open water and a great holiday too.

Leppy, I'd love to join in with one of these Swimtrek holidays but
a) I'm not very fast but can keep going for a long time
b) none of my non-Swimclub mates are up for it.

What are the chances of arranging a Swimclub event for mixed ability?