WARM-UP OPEN WATER NEWS


OPEN WATER SAFETY TO BE ADDRESSED AT CONFERENCE US swimmer Fran Crippen’s tragic death during a 10km swimming event last year showed that even the world’s best swimmers need protection in the water. The rest of us, even more so. It is therefore reassuring to see organisations such as Pacific Masters Swimming and US Masters Swimming sponsoring a conference to specifically tackle the question of protecting athletes. The conference, which will take place on 18-20 March at San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel, will address safety related themes including identifying potential problems and current issues in open water. It will discuss potential solutions and ensure that its findings and recommendations are made public. More info: openwatersource.com/ open-water-swimming- safety-conference.html


TRAINING COURSES LAUNCHED Getting ready for the 2011 swim season and want some help training? You can improve your stroke and your performance with a coaching course


from H2Open expert Rick Kiddle (Rick Kiddle Coaching). Level 1 sessions are available throughout April-June (1, 15, 21 May, 11 June at Heron Lake; 27 April, 8, 25 May, 6 June at Thorpe Swimming Lake). More dates into the season will be announced on the NOWCA website. If you cannot find a date listed try rickkiddle.com for other courses.


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The OSS December Dip at Parliament Hill Lido attracted more than 200 people


TOO COLD TO SWIM? 


Many cold water enthusiasts were


disappointed last December as annual Christmas swims were cancelled due to freezing conditions. Annual cold-water events, including the Serpentine’s Peter Pan Cup, fell foul to the coldest December in 100 years. For the first time in 30


years, the Serpentine was too heavily frozen for the Cup to be run, although some brave swimmers did break the ice and get in on Christmas morning regardless. Regular festive swims at the Sandford


Parks Lido in Cheltenham and elsewhere were also cancelled. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Most Christmas sea swims went ahead. Notably, in Brighton, where 30 participants jumped in, despite the fact that it was 3.5°C colder than previously recorded. In Bude the turnout was impressive despite a sea temperature of 7°C and an air temperature of -9°C. Lowestoft’s Christmas swim attracted a record 250 people to the icy beach.


The Outdoor Swimming Society's annual Christmas


24-HOUR SWIM RAISES FUNDS FOR HEROES


Could you swim 24 miles in a day? Charity 2Swim4Life, which organises an annual 24-hour swim in aid of Help for Heroes, is looking for entrants and volunteers for this year’s Swim for Heroes event. Not for the athletically challenged, the charity challenge on 30 April involves swimming a mile every hour for 24 hours. “There are plenty of spaces left for swimmers,” Mark Robson, one of the event’s organisers, said. Those attempting the event


at Guilford Lido, including H2Open expert Colin Hill, and Julian Crabtree, will start at 9.30am and swim a mile every hour on the hour, taking what time remains each hour to eat, drink and rest, until the following morning. Prospective entrants should be fit


party also went ahead. This year's December Dip took place in water of 0.1°C, on 4 December. Sky News filmed the race, which saw more than 200 people jumping from the snow-covered poolside and performing two 30m widths of Parliament Hill Lido. And the festive season closed with a success story, on 1 January, as 1,000 people – many of them in costume – turned up at the Forth in Edinburgh for the traditional Loony Dook dip, raising thousands of pounds for charity.


and healthy, swim a mile in about 30 minutes and be cold-water acclimatised. It’s not recommended for the casual swimmer. “Do not underestimate the event... 24 hours of stop start exercise is truly exhausting”, warned Barry Slater, a swimmer at the 2008 event, on the event’s website (2swim4life.com). Another swimmer, Liz Dilley, called it “a daunting challenge both beforehand and during, though the high of actually finishing is unbeatable”. Those who aren’t confident that they will finish, and 18-24 year olds, can apply for a shorter 12-hour, 12-mile, overnight challenge instead. Entrance for either event costs £50 per person, and application forms can be found online at 2race4life.com. All enquiries and volunteers welcome. Or donate to the cause online at bmycharity.com/ V2/2Swim4Life


Photo © Hasan Solmaz


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