Open Water

This season's first county open water event took place tonight (7th July 2010) and consisted of 4 laps of a 750m course at Lake 32 in the Cotswolds.

23 swimmers in total with only 2 representatives from Corsham - Paul Bacon and Stuart Gibbs (both Masters).  The conditions were almost perfect.
Both swimmers improved on their times from last year with Paul winning gold in the Over 40 category for the second year running.  Stuart took bronze in the under 40s.

Open Water swimming might not be top of everyone's list of things to do, but with the 10km event becoming an established fixture on the Olympic and World calender and the growing popularity of the Great Swim series, perhaps it's something that all competitive pool swimmers should try (at least once!) 

Wilts County host two events over the summer months at Lake 32 in the Cotswold Water Park:

- 3km on Wednesday 7th July 2010

- 1.5km (or 750m for 11 year olds) on Wednesday 14th July.

On a perfect Summer’s evening, Hannah Lias set off as the youngest swimmer in a group of 24 on two laps of the course in her first open water competition. The competition was organised by Wilts ASA and was held at Lake 32 of the Cotswold Water Park. She kept in close company with a swimmer from Pewsey ASC all the way round and completed the course in a respectable 28 minutes 56 secs (just over 1 minute slower than her time for the distance in the pool – possibly something to do with no ends, taking a scenic route between bouys and/or the temperature of the water!)

Shorter distance - similar results.
There was much stronger competition with over 80 swimmers on the night.
Paul Bacon won the Over 40s (possibly with a new County record to go with his 3km record) with Sean Browne being edged out in a very tough category. Stuart Gibbs won the Under 40s (also possibly a new County record).

I understand that Hannah Lias also swam, but I don't know how she got on as I arrived so late.