The Dart 10k – Open Water Distance Swim

The Dart 10K is a river swim that starts with a boat trip from Dartmouth up the course before mooring and letting the swimmers go. In fact there are three boats, each with about 150 swimmers on board, and a buzz and anticipation that open water swimming often brings.

The course starts in a meandering, high-sided landscape before opening up into a wide, flat valley where the first feed station awaits. Some jelly beans and water before you head into a long bend round to Dittisham, then through a narrower section with lots of boats. At this point you realise the tide is quite strong as you fly past the boats, and only narrowly miss a few!

The final long straight into Dartmouth comes faster than expected, and you cross the line to receive a branded mug of hot chocolate as a reward. It’s a quick and exhilarating race, a little over 2 hours (comparable to the 3 hours it would take in a lake).

The Hurly Burly – Open Water Distance Swim

The Hurly Burly is another level, and its name is definitely appropriate. It’s wild, fast, and leaves you breathless and grinning from ear to ear.

You set off at 7:30 in the morning as the tide turns in and swim into the estuary. You swim straight off the beach along the sea wall before being taken by the current, heading straight for a bridge at pace. Keep your head up and sighting as it passes by in seconds, and you sigh in relief you didn’t hit it! They guide you sideways even though it looks clear straight on, and once you’ve hit a sandbank inches below you realise that following them is the only way forward. The water is choppy, the sky blowing past and the Welsh valley serenely beautiful.

At the finish, you have to sprint from left to right without passing it by, then onto land, where a band of drummers greets you. Less than 1.5 hours, wide-eyed and bashed, a wonderful swim. There are 600 swimmers, and pretty much all of them end up in the pub for a bacon sarnie and a slowing of the pulse.

Swims like these underscore the pleasure of swimming in open water and swimming distances you rarely attempt in the pool.

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