Come celebrate your love of fresh water on Sunday 10 July 2011, and meet other Dorset members of the Outdoor Swimming Society, with a picnic and swim at the OSS Big Jump at Wareham Quay. This is a free event for all those happy to look after themselves. Invite friends and family: all welcome.
WHERE: Wareham Quay, Wareham, Dorset BH20 4LP. google map co-ordinates 50.683632,-2.109252 . There is plenty of pay and display parking in the town by Sainsburys and the church. Meet on the open grassed area for sunbathing and picnicking, opposite the Quay. Boat hire is available or bring your own.
WHEN: 1-5pm. The Big Jump, a simultaneous leap into the water with all participants, occurs at 4pm. If it’s sunny, we anticipate people arriving from 1pm for a picnic lunch and lazy / social afternoon on the banks. If it’s not so sunny, arrivals expected around 3pm.
HOW: Crossing over the road and swimming from the public slipway. Unlikely to jump in for this swim so it’ll be more of a splash! The swim will be upstream for as far as you like and then floating back.
WHO: Anyone who loves water, of any age. This is a ‘social swim’, ie coordinated by OSS members, for OSS members, with no water safety: everyone must take responsibility for themselves, and by attending you confirm you have read and accept the terms of the OSS Swim Responsibility Statement. It is a suitable venue for children, as long as they are supervised. Wetsuits not necessary – you can swim for as long or as little as you like.
HISTORY: The Big Jump is a Europe-wide river swimming day, with tens of thousands of swimmers taking the plunge simultaneously at 4pm (BST) across Germany, Switzerland, France and the UK. The day was conceived to reunite people with their waters, to celebrate improvements in the cleanliness of fresh water, and to reestablish inland beaches. Other European countries are way ahead of us on this – in Switzerland, there are diving boards into the river in the centre of Zurich, on the Elbe in Germany, the first Big Jump established 55 inland beaches, where regular swimming takes place, along it’s length. The OSS inland access volunteers, like other local advocates, are working hard to create more.
HOW MUCH: From an OSS point of view this is a free event, but all donations towards the OSS are welcome.
HATS AND HOODIES: There will be a small selection of OSS hats and hoodies for sale so please bring your chequebook or pennies.