Planning and swimming your own adventure

05th April, 2017

There are plenty of organised swimming events across the country and the world, but sometimes the best challenges are the ones your plan and swim yourself. “If my friends and I had a motto, it would probably be a line from John Cheever,” says West Cornish swimmer David Cooke. “The day was beautiful and it seemed to him that a long swim might enlarge and celebrate its beauty.”

David and his friends, Tim, Tup and Toby “I realise they sound like imaginary friends,” says David – were becoming a little tired of doing the same swims in their area. “Despite many of them being stunning, like swimming around St Michaels Mount,” he says. “I started spending evenings studying Google earth and dividing the coastline into swimmable chunks, from one cove or beach to the next.” The aim was to start swimming the coastline without missing any parts and to see how far they could get.

“We would prepare well, study tidal flow charts, tide timetables, weather forecasts and we would inform the coastguard in advance before each swim,” says David. So far the group have done seven swims varying in length from two to five kilometres. “The conditions have been from glassy to gnarly and it has become a wonderful swimming odyssey,” he says. “Each swim reveals aspect of the sea and coastline which are new to us, despite us all being familiar with the area.”

This summers swims are being planned, “the planning is half the fun I have to admit,” says David. So far the group have swam from Porthcurno to Perranuthnoe, a beautiful granite coastline. “When we have completed a few more sections we will be sure to share more photos and information.”

If you want to explore organising your own swimming adventure, read some guidelines here: https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/category/features/survive/