H2Open, the World’s first dedicated open water swimming magazine, has joined forces with seven race organisers to create Britain’s first National Open Water Swimming Ranking Series for 2012.
The concept is simple. Swimmers will have to complete three of the seven races to participate and will be awarded points based on their finishing position. The top swimmers in each age group will be crowned national champions at the end of the year. Race distances range from 1 mile to 5 km and take place in the sea, rivers and lakes around Britain.
Registration for the series is free (race entries need to be paid as normal) and can be completed through H2Open’s website.
Series coordinator Joel Enoch says ‘A National Open Water Swimming Series is a hugely exciting development for the sport and allows pool swimmers to get out of the chlorinated water and discover the freedom of not having to turn every 25 meters!’ He adds, ‘the series will also allow more opportunity for seasoned pool swimmers and triathletes to come together. It will be interesting to see if the technique of the pool swimmers or the open water experience of triathletes wins through across the year.’
Since its inclusion in the 2008 Olympics, open water swimming has taken off and must be one of the fastest growing mass participation sports in the world at the moment. Participation grew by 75% in the UK between 2010 and 2011. Britain’s Keri-Anne Payne is among the favourites to take gold in the 10km marathon swim scheduled to take place in Hyde Park’s Serpentine during the 2012 Olympics.
The Races
- Saturday 5 May – Galeforce Events, Box End Swim (nr. Bedford), 5k, lake (www.galeforce-events.com)
- Friday 8 June (18.30) – The Wales Swim, Tenby, 1.9km, sea (www.thewalesswim.com)
- Sunday 8 July 8 – The Henley Mile, Henley, 1 mile, river (www.henleyswim.com)
- Saturday 4 August – The Edinburgh Swim Festival, Edinburgh, 2k, sea (www.edinburghracing.co.uk)
- Sunday 5 August – Votwo Bournemouth Long Swim, 2.5k, Sea (www.votwoevents.co.uk)
- Saturday 18 August – Monster Swim, Loch Ness, (distance tbc) (www.monsterswim.co.uk)
- Saturday 8 September – The South West Swim, nr Radstock, Somerset, 5k, lake (www.www.dbmax.co.uk)
About H2Open Magazine
H2Open Magazine was launched in February 2011 as the world’s only dedicated open water swimming magazine and over the subsequent 10 months has grown its subscriber base to over 1500 swimmers and triathletes. The magazine covers the entire range of open water swimming activities from wild swimming to mass participation races, elite racing and long-distance challenges and has been so successful that Editor Simon Griffiths was nominated for the prestigious Man of the Year Award by International organisation Open water Source.
On top of the National Ranking Series the magazine has big plans for 2012 including launching the H2Open Day. This is scheduled for 28 April 2012 at the Reading Lake Hotel and will include demonstrations, coaching sessions, kit testing and the chance to jump into the lake for some pre-season open water practice. H2Open is working in partnership with Triathlon Racing Inc, organiser of the Lakeside Triathlon, and the Tri2O team, who hold regular swimming sessions at the hotel.
For more information about the H2Open Day and the National Open Water Ranking Series (and to enter the Series) see www.h2openmagazine.com and watch a You Tube video below: