Thames Marathon
heart
San Francisco, CACharter Member
So, this summer I'll be swimming 14 km in the Thames. Yay!
I'm not sure I understand why they have a wetsuit rule, with only a few non-wetsuit spots (I'm angling for one of those) - every other race I've seen leaves the suit dilemma to the personal discretion of the swimmer. But I can't wait to swim there. I'm sure it'll be fantastic.
Comments
@heart, in my (limited) experience with UK OW swims, they almost always require wetsuit. Sad really.
Good luck!
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
It depends on who the event organiser is. I've managed to do plenty of OW events in the UK and haven't worn a wetsuit for at least 5 years.
A really handy resource can be found at www.overtaquatix.com This website lists all (known) UK swim events, and whether they are wetsuit/skins/both.
It can be quite cold over here, and although I don't wear a wetsuit, many of these events couldn't take place if only skins swimmers participated. I just don't enter the compulsory wetsuit events! Their loss ;-)
Glad to hear @ZoeSadler. Granted, my "knowledge" of UK OW and wetsuits is from 2010.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Yay! I snagged a non-wetsuit spot! The race organizers are partnering with FRANKwater, an organization that works on water quality in developing countries, and they still had some skins spots. Since I always fundraise when I swim, it's a great opportunity to do it. I'm so excited!
Has anyone swum in the Thames?
Ah yes....the Thames. I did a 10 mile swim quite a bit further up the river (around Lechlade) a couple of years ago - just beautiful, but unfortunately, I had a fearsome bout of the "Thames tummy" afterwards. They had some problems with this on the Henley swim (in 2014, I think?), but it seems like that was a one-off and the drainage issue that they think was responsible has now been resolved. I know lot of people who've done this swim and love it - you'll have a great time (just don't drink the water!).
This happened further downstream in 2011 and led to an investigation. I remember some friends being quite ill after the event. Interesting finding re wetsuits!
The area where you will be swimming is absolutely beautiful, lots of scenery and wildlife (swans!).
There is no reason why you should expect to fall ill, but read the advice in this report, and take sensible precautions such as not drinking the water and be meticulous about washing your hands before you eat anything.
I've swum the 10K Jubilee river swim twice and had no ill effects afterwards - this river takes the overflow from the Thames as part of the flood relief scheme.
Agree with Zoe - that whole area is very beautiful and it will be a lovely swim.
P. S. I think "don't drink the water" is a lesson for life in general.