OPEN WATER HEROES
As head of the Great Swim Series, Colin Hill has done more than anyone else to develop open water swimming in the UK. He talked to H2Open editor Simon Griffi ths about his ambition to get the whole country swimming…
GREAT SWIMMER
In June this year, around 10,000 people will take part in The Great North Swim, completing half-mile, one-mile or two- mile swims through the waters of Lake Windermere in Cumbria. Although it's now one of the biggest mass participation events in the country – with more competitors than almost every triathlon – this race was only competed for the fi rst time in 2008. Its sister events – the Great East, Great London and Great Scottish Swims – launched in 2009, joined last year by the Great Salford event, and it’s estimated that the Great Swims series as a whole will attract more than 20,000 people this year. Not bad for a so-called ‘minority’ sport. This sudden and striking popularity of open water swimming in Britain is arguably down to one man – Nova International’s Colin Hill – who realised just a few years ago that the problem of open water in the UK was one of supply rather than demand. He had been working abroad for a number of years as a white water rafting and kayaking expedition leader. “I was living in New Zealand, where I got into multisport racing, and also started ocean swimming with a local club,” he remembers. When he returned to the UK and moved to the Lake District he carried on swimming outside, but discovered that – unlike in New Zealand – not many other people were doing it. “At the time there were a lot of barriers to entry for open water swimming here, especially if you wanted to race,” says Hill. “Many events required you to arrange your own kayak escort or demanded a letter of support from a coach.” Hill realised that thousands of people frequently swam at their local pools but few had any swimming-related challenges to aspire to. “Masters swimming galas have a limited appeal and in most cases require you to be registered with the Amateur Swimming Association. This in turn means being a member of a swimming club, which can be a daunting prospect if you haven’t grown up in that environment.” When Hill fi rst fl oated the idea of a Great Swim event among his colleagues at Nova International, some people wondered if it would attract any more than a couple of hundred people. However, with the backing and support of Nova’s chairman, Brendan Foster, 2,200 swimmers signed up for the fi rst race. In its second running, in 2009, the event had 6,600 entrants. Suddenly open water swimming was on everyone’s agenda. British Gas became the headline sponsor for the Great Swim Series, Nova International started to receive requests to put on more events and the series expanded.
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So what is it about the Great Swim Series that attracts so many swimmers? “We’ve worked really hard to make sure each event is a fantastic experience for everyone who takes part,” says Hill. “That means a lot goes on behind the scenes in terms of safety and organisation. There are Great Swim teams in place now to look after all aspects of the swims, including elite athlete management, dedicated event management, commercial, communications and information technology. “We make sure everyone has a timing chip, we count all swimmers into the start pens and we check them when they come out again. We know where every swimmer is throughout the race. We limit start waves to 300 to prevent overcrowding, and we have a high ratio of kayakers to swimmers.” Another thing Great Swim have done to enhance the event
experience is to invite celebrities and stars of the sport to take part. “It’s about giving participants unique experiences,” Hill says. “In the Great North Swim we had fi ve out of the six open water Olympic medallists swimming.”
JOIN A BRITISH GAS GREAT SWIM Tempted to take part? The 2011 events take place at:
British Gas Great Salford Swim 15 May, Salford Quays, Manchester
British Gas Great East Swim 11 June, Alton Water Park, Suffolk
British Gas Great North Swim 17-19 June, Windermere, Cumbria
British Gas Great London Swim 2 July, Royal Victoria Dock, London
British Gas Great Scottish Swim 24 September, Strathclyde Country Park, Scotland
GREAT SWIM STATISTICS How long does it take? Good: 20-25mins Average: 45mins Slowest (2010): 1hr 58mins Gender split: 49% women; 51% men Minimum age: 16 for 1mi; 12 for Ðmi Oldest swimmers: 80+ Most Great Swim entrants have never swum in open water before
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