Wargrave & Shiplake Regatta Swim – The Friendly Local Open Water Swim

This year’s Wargrave & Shiplake Regatta takes place on the 8-9 August and for the thirdyear in succession Saturday’s boating activities are preceded by the open water swim. This friendly, local regatta encourages participation of all ages and abilities and the same goes for the swim which attracts experienced swimmers and those relatively new to open water in equal measure.

The swim starts at 6.30 a.m. and utilizes the same course as the boating competition. The 1,000m course consists of a swim up-stream from just above the George & Dragon Pub to the Railway Bridge and back. Competitors of the 2,000m swim complete two laps of the same course. Safety is paramount as canoeists from the Wargrave Boat Club escort participants throughout the swim, aided by spotters on the bank. All competitors are rewarded with breakfast as they take time to recover from and celebrate their early exertions.

Feedback from last year’s event was extremely positive, with participants enjoying the friendly and low key atmosphere surrounding the event. A number of them were trying open water swimming for the first time and loved the opportunity to take part in a safe and controlled environment.

Once refreshed, swimmers are encouraged to stay for the rest of the day’s events. They can sign up for the scratch dongola crews straight after or just choose to relax and enjoy the racing from the enclosure.

This year’s swim is kindly sponsored by Twyford’s Haweli Indian Restaurant. All competitors benefit from a 20% discount on their bill when presenting their competitor’s wrist band.

Places are limited and registration is now open and accessible from the main Wargrave & Shiplake Regatta site www.wsregatta.co.uk.