Swimming Categories
The Cold Water Swimming Championships will include individual races, relays and an endurance challenge.
Please remember you must acclimatise to cold water before swimming in these races.
Individual races
There are two types of races for individuals - head-up breaststroke and freestyle.
Head up breaststroke
This is the traditional cold water swimming event, as it can take part in ice cold conditions and the head must not go beneath the water level.
The rules are simple you must ensure that your eyes do not pass below the water level at any time during the race. The event is a great leveller and makes for very competitive races.
Swimmers are encouraged to wear a warm hat for this race, the more interesting and creative the better, as a prize will be awarded for the Best Hat of the Day.
Freestyle
As the name suggests in the freestyle race you can use any stroke you like in order to propel yourself across a width of the pool as quickly as possible. While front crawl is normally the stroke of choice being the fastest stroke for most people, you can in fact use any stroke.
The age groups
All age groups will have heats in the morning and finals in the afternoon. Both races will be divided into age categories. The age groups are as follows:
A series: 19 years and under (those born 1992 or after) B series: 20-29 years (those born 1991-1982) C series: 30-39 years (those born 1981-1972) D series: 40-49 years (those born 1971-1962) E series: 50-59 years (those born 1961-1952) F series: 60-69 years (those born 1951-1942) G series: 70-79 years (those born 1941-1932) H series: 80 years and over (those born in 1931 or before)
Relay races
Teams consist of four competitors who will swim 4 x 30m freestyle races. Teams must be mixed (there must be at least one man and one woman) and can represent their country, town, club or can simply be a group of friends.
There will be two categories for relay races based on the combined ages of your team: over 180 and up to and including 180.
For example, if your team members are 25, 27, 33, 35 years old respectively, the combined age would be 120 years and you would be in the Under 180 category. If all team members were 46, you would be in the Over 180 category.
The relay races will be taking place from midday.
The Endurance Challenge
The endurance challenge is the last swim of the day and will be for experienced cold water swimmers only. The challenge will be 450m (five lengths of Tooting Bec Lido) and is by invitation only. To apply please send us a request to take part stating your cold water swimming experience which must be confirmed by your swimming coach or official from your swimming organisation. To take part you must be at least 16 years of age and have an approved swim of 1km or 13 minutes (whichever is the longer) in water of 6 degrees centigrade (43 degrees Fahrenheit) or less. A short paragraph on your previous cold water swimming experience will also be required.
