Page 34 - br-sep-2022

September 2022 September 2022

SWANAGE TO STUDLAND SWIM

“Good to see you again, Bob! I hope you
enjoy the swim today”
Jack Davies, chief organiser of the now
annual Swanage to Studland swim
greeted me like an old friend. Open water
swimmers are friendly types and Jack was
no exception. We were gathered near
Sheps Hollow at the end of Swanage Bay
to swim the four miles around Ballard
Down and Old Harry Rocks to South
Beach, Studland.
The weather was blisteringly hot, and the sea a positively balmy 18C. However,
with an easterly wind blowing against the prevailing westerly tide there was a
decided chop in the sea and it was certainly not the flat calm we had hoped for!
John had our support boat moored 50 metres off shore’ and 5 kayaks were
already lined up on the beach ready to take to the water.
Diana had dropped me
earlier for my short walk
along the Swanage When you respond to advertisers, do please tell them you saw their
promenade to the start of advert in this magazine - it helps them monitor the effectiveness of
the swim. I was able to their advert and helps us generate more advertising revenue!!
make a mobile call to her
saying that all was well and
I would see her around 6pm
at the other end.
The safety briefing followed
which Jack kept short and
to the point. The need for
the safety cover (boat and
kayaks) was fairly obvious on this swim as in case of emergency there was no exit
strategy because of the lack of beaches to land on.
I looked around at my fellow swimmers and soon discovered that there were only
three of us not in wetsuits. As it turned out, I found no need to wear a wetsuit as
the sea was so warm and the air temperature well over 30C. However, it is a more
demanding swim as a suit aids buoyancy and keeps the body in a more
streamlined position.
We were asked to enter the sea and we were off!

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