A run and swim in North Wales: with mountains, a clear sandy estuary and a fast tide pushing you on, this is the fastest 10k in the land – with run-swim and run options too.
The event is run by Swim Collective, and there is hope that it will go ahead in 2024 on 21st September. If you are interested, please hold the date and for detailed information, tickets and queries, please go to Swim Collective.
Set in North Wales on the edge of Snowdonia, this is one of the most beautiful swims The OSS ever found. It starts on the sandy beach of Barmouth, and takes swimmers underneath Barmouth Bridge, a mile and a half wide iconic railway bridge. The first part of the swim is up the wide and sandy estuary with mountains on either side, and then it’s through ‘the narrows’ and into a more sheltered part of the estuary.
The whole swim takes place on a fast incoming tide that works like a bore to assist your swim. Past the narrows the water speeds up further, and the landscape becomes pastoral, the banks closer to you. Runners will run alongside the estuary on a flat gravel track, taking in the spectacular view along the way.
For those who fancy a challenge, there is the chance to take part in a Run-swim event. Run-swimmers will run from Penmaenpool to Barmouth, take a break and then join the main swimming event.
The swim and run ends at Penmaenpool, to change, gather for hot food warm up on fire pits and in hot tubs. The OSS swims were always about the journey and what a journey this is. (It took the team behind these routes 7 years of looking to find a swim route that rivals the Dart 10k, and this is it).
Everyone is welcome – swimmers of all ages, disabled swimmers, and swimmers from around the world. The swim and run-swim are open to all who can swim a mile in 35 minutes or less and run 11km in under 1hr 10 minutes. There is no time limit for the run-only event.
Read more about the 2018 event in the event report and gallery.
Swimmers should be able to swim at least 7km confidently and be able to maintain a swim speed of 35 minutes or faster (measured as the time it takes you to swim a mile of relaxed continuous front crawl in a pool, without big push-offs). We recommend that run-swimmers can run 11k in around 1 hr 30 minutes, whilst run-only entrants have no time limit. Swimmers and runners should be ready for a bad weather day (choppy water or a headwind), and for cold temperatures in and out of the water – extra layers of neoprene for swimmers or a windproof layer for runners are suggested.
TICKETS
This event was invented by Kate Rew from The OSS and passed on to Swim Collective in 2022. Swim Collective are the event arm of The OSS’s longstanding charity partner Level Water, who provide discounted swim lessons to children with disabilities. The OSS is proud to have been a part of Level Water raising over £250k in 2023 via the Swoosh, Boomerang and Dart10k, and are looking forward to 2024. Please head to Swim Collective for ticket and event queries – we will also keep members informed via elsewhere and on social media – we hope to see you there!