I have entered the Great North swim and want to get some open water swimming experience near Manchester.

The Salford Quays swimming says you have to be a member of a tri club (which I am not).

Does anyone know if they actually check ?

And yes I have (or nearly have) a wetsuit.

http://www.salford.gov.uk/leisure/facilities/watersportscentre/openwaterswim.htm says you just have to register with them.

Having said that though, open water experience is very easy to get – just go to a river and swim some. You can either swim in cheeky places, or it is legal in rivers that are freely navigable by boat except for canals.

Some obvious spots are listed on these sites below – dunno if any are near you:
http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_map
http://www.wildswimming.co.uk/map.html

There is a spot at Chatsworth which is *very* nice, free except for parking, and only has a chilled out current, so you don’t get too knackered doing out and back swims. It is in the Daniel Start ‘wild swimming’ book sold on that second site but is basically here: between the two weirs.

Joe

In the same boat (lake) as you bill
Getting meself a wetsuit soon and doing the swim with a pal
We were contemplating having a bash at dovestones reservior
How you getting on training? i’m up to 65 lengths (god it’s boring)

Joe,

Cheers for that – must order that book – in fact I’ll do it now.

dan74,

The swimming going well – better than the biking to be honest.
I have done 100*25m lengths once but 80 is the norm.
For some strange reason I really enjoy it.
I have started going to the Blackburn SwimFit sessions that are free – they are excellent. I am only in lane 2 of 4 which gives you an idea of the standard.

Good luck.

OR there’s BOundary Breeze on Thursday evenings. Which is nice.

The swim coach at TriCentral is also very worthwhile. A bit spendy, but it should now take me appreciably longer to drown and I’ll be further from the shore. A mixed blessing then.

The Daniel Start book is great – really inspiring, and the recommended places so far have been spot on.

Joe

Also, just been out for a quick lunchtime swim, and the water here (Derbyshire) is super warm, warmer than ever. It’s a great week to get started on outdoor swimming. I swear it was as warm as a swimming pool. Totally lazy swim today, about 600m, all downstream in a nice smoothly flowing river.

Joe

Be careful out there – loads of fire engines down at the river went I went out canoeing last night 🙁
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/local/4466198.Teenager_who_drowned_in_Severn_named/

Whilst it is very sad that people drown in water sometimes, there’s a rather sad comment from the fire service there – 1 poor kid gets killed swimming, he says basically “I hope people won’t swim anywhere”. I bet he doesn’t say “I hope people won’t drive anywhere” every time there is a car crash?

Yes, do be careful, know the river, check it out, be sure know how you’re going to get out, how far you can swim, have an idea of the currents and water temperature, and don’t jump in anywhere you don’t know what is underneath, don’t run rapids unless you’re sure about what’s round the corner etc. But having said that, river swimming is relatively safe (safe enough that even with thousands of kids jumping in rivers every summer weekend, a death is rare enough to get reported in the press), and if you’re a strong swimmer there’s no reason not to do it, especially in summer when (contrary to what the fireman said) the water in smaller rivers is often toasty warm and not going to give anyone cold shock.

Joe

Joe, am in the Hope Valley and been trying to find access to water. Swam Ullswater at the weekend and it was fantastic, but struggled to find water that was either permissible or accessible – would love to do more locally, would be great to join you on a swim some time – email in profile.

I agree Joe – wouldn’t put me off open water swimming (not sure I’d choose to go swimming in the Severn, but that’s more down to pollution). Indeed I do still occasionally swim on my own in a flooded quarry where there are now no swimming signs because of the idiots who’ve killed themselves in there going swimming after drinking. However it is worth pointing out that it does have its dangers – dangers most people just don’t appreciate – and it certainly brought it home to me paddling past where they’d just pulled a body out. Was feeling guilty for a while, as I’d been planning on going out earlier, but happier in a way to hear how early the 999 call was, as I wouldn’t have been there by then.

Joe, am in the Hope Valley and been trying to find access to water. Swam Ullswater at the weekend and it was fantastic, but struggled to find water that was either permissible or accessible – would love to do more locally, would be great to join you on a swim some time – email in profile.

I hear that people have swum in parts of that end of the Derwent, although a) it is of disputed legality, and b)I think it is grade 2 and grade 3 water in parts – grade 2 is white water, 3 is scary white water that you quite likely don’t want to swim in, so you really need to walk any section before you swim it, and not go further downstream than you know.

The closest thing that the Wild Swimming book has to the Hope Valley is Chatsworth, which is well worth the bike over.

I work on the principle that if there’s a footpath next to it (so you have legal access to the bank), and there’s no signs saying ‘no swimming’, and it isn’t full of fishermen, then I’m happy to have a swim. I wouldn’t swim on a river with unknown access if people are fishing, just because I don’t want to get into arguments. It is amazing how many places there are to swim once you start thinking this way. If someone asks you to get out, just be polite and leave and you won’t have broken any laws.

I’m well up for swimming, but I’m a bit crazy busy most of this summer (till about September), so I’m kind of snatching a quick swim every so often when I have spare time / when I can convince whoever is visiting my house that they really should try river swimming or want a lovely walk along a river and weekday evenings if I’m early from work.

Joe

Seems to be some info on here regarding open water swimming in your area.
http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=events&s=&id=39

Also some suggestions on here under the wild swimming heading.
http://www.swimclub.co.uk/forum/?

Check out wild swimmer pete he’s a mentalist!
http://www.swimclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=7670

Hope that helps.

open water swimming is great. If you’re reading this thread and tempted then (with safety in mind) go for it. Pool swimming = turbo training (hot and boring), OW swimming is more like being in the hills. 😀

I swim in Salford Quays. They open up the quay on Thursday evenings for general swimming, you just need to have registered with them before, which is free (although you get a discount if you become a member so it depends how often you think you’ll go). You don’t need to be a member of a triclub and you don’t need a wetsuit if the water temperature is above 14 degC, there were people in just their speedos last week although I have no intention of going anywhere near it without a wetsuit. It is a really nice environment to try openwater swimming, there are lots of safety boats (although I’ve never seen them have to do anything) and because it is a closed quay it is a bit easier to sight than some enormous pond where you can veer miles off course. It can be busy, so I try and get there for 6.30 when they allow people in the water otherwise you can end up waiting for someone to get out of the water before you’re allowed in.
Web address for registration form; http://www.salford.gov.uk/leisure/facilities/watersportscentre/openwaterswim.htm
Hope this helps.

You don’t need to be a member of a triclub and you don’t need a wetsuit if the water temperature is above 14 degC, there were people in just their speedos last week although I have no intention of going anywhere near it without a wetsuit.

Sea temperature where I was last week was supposedly 15 degrees, and whilst that felt nippy getting in, not a problem at all to swim for 20 minutes in that – could have easily done much longer. It might feel cold at first, but you’ll not have any problems with that sort of temperature. I’d guess if anything it might get a bit warm for a wetsuit in a month or so – the quarry I go in does, and I only wore the wetsuit as I raced in one, taking it off for a cool down at the end.

The advantage of the wetsuit for those of us who aren’t quite so good is that I can just bob along if I get tired, relying on the extra buoyacy the wetsuit gives me – its not cheating, just using the equipment to its full potential.

Ah fair enough – I was after all the one warning about the dangers earlier!

Out of interest, how much does a cheap swimming wetsuit cost? I’m guessing I might want one come winter, but I’m also guessing they are v expensive? Also, how resilient are they to the odd scrape on a rock etc.?

Joe

how much does a cheap swimming wetsuit cost

Wiggle have Orca S2 swimming wetsuits for £100, they seem good enough and you see loads of people in them – don’t think you can get much cheaper for new. They are also doing a buy-back scheme where you can sell it back to them at the end of the year for £50 (if you decide openwater swimming/triathlon was a silly idea).