Open Water Swimming in Borth and Aberystwyth
The sea temperature is gradually warming up, it still isn’t warm at about 10ºC but it’s warm enough to get in for a swim with my Triathlon Wetsuit on and the warm sunny days have made the sea look quite inviting.
I had a nice swim at Ynyslas last Thursday, just a straight swim down the beach a little and then back. I find open water swimming quite relaxing in a way, the strokes are longer and slower and if the water is calm you can just glide along with no need to turn. I’d aimed to do a mile, but had to judge the distance myself whilst swimming and ended up doing a little more – 1.36 miles in 34:41 to be precise.
I then had another Open Water Swim on Easter Monday, this time in Aberystwyth with a group of Triathletes from the INTR Tri Club. Again, it was a nice easy swim, this time up and down the bay in Aberyswyth, and a bit of fun on a sunny Bank Holiday morning. It’s also a new way for me to draw little red lines all over Google Earth!
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- Aberystwyth Sea Swim
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- Ynyslas Sea Swim
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Hi, I’m going to Aber this weekend and will be taking my wetsuit with me so I can go swimming in the sea. Can you tell me which areas from the beach are best to swim in and if there are any areas to avoid. I know that the lifeguards have packed up for the year so thought it best to ask a local swimmer who knows the sea!
Nicky… I don’t like to tell people where to swim too much just in case, but there are few hazards in Borth (unless of course it is rough!). There can be something of a longshore drift, but as long as you are aware of it and accept that it may be slower going one way then the other along the beach it’s not too bad. It usually flows south to north, but can be the opposite direction in an outgoing tide with a NW wind.
Aberystwyth doesn’t have too many hazards either. There can be quite a strong flow coming out of the harbour at South beach so watch out for that, and keep away from the harbour entrance of course. There are also fairly obvious rocks off Castle Point, around the pier and at Bath Rocks in front of the shelter on North Beach. There aren’t any nasty rips or anything though – at least, there aren’t in benign conditions.
Usual rules apply of course. Make sure you feel comfortable and competent in the given conditions, let someone know where you are going and when you’ll be back. Swim with someone else if you can and have fun!
If you want someone to swim with, then there will be a group of people heading out from the bandstand in Aberystwyth on Saturday at 11am. (Look up the Aberystwyth Swim Bike and Run Group on Facebook). Or, if you fancy a swim in Borth then let me know, I might be able to join you – unless I’m swimming with the others in Aberystwyth!
Have fun and stay safe.
Al.
Apologies I didn’t see your reply before sending another message! I may well be doing Parkrun on Saturday morning but can come down for a dip after that! Sounds great. I don’t know where Borth is in relation to Aber but I’ll find a map 🙂 thank you so much!
Hi Alan, I wanted to get in touch to thank you for telling me about the sea swim group in Aberystwyth. I met Sue, Linda, Wendel and the rest of the group including 2 guys from Birmingham who were preparing for Ironman Barcelona and we had a lovely 40 min swim out to the first buoy. I haven’t done much sea swimming and it took a little while to settle into the rhythm and stop taking great mouthfuls of salt water. Three of us left the group to continue on whilst we headed back to shore. I didn’t want to push my ability and have a problem which was a good idea as the current was quite strong on the way back, trying to push us over towards the pier. We got back fine though and it was a lovely way to spend a morning. I’ll let you know if I’m coming over to the area and would love to swim out there again 🙂 thanks
Hi. I’ll be in this area next week and am hoping for a sea swim. I currently swim in reservoirs in the Peak District and have since February have stopped wearing my wetsuit and simply brave the cold temperatures in a swimsuit. Temps are usually around 9 degrees. Would you recommend a wetsuit for a sea swim? Many thanks. Angie
Hi Angie,
If you are used to the temperature and know the local conditions and what you are doing then there is no reason to wear a wetsuit in the sea. The main reasons for wearing a wetsuit are for warmth and for buoyancy. The sea temperatures here are around 8-9ºC at the moment and are beginning to warm up so that should be the same as you are used to. As far as buoyancy goes then you’ll be more buoyant in the sea anyway so you should be fine.
Have fun, and stay safe.
Al.
Thanks so much. That’s really helpful. Looking forward to it. A ?
Hi there, have recently moved to Aberystwyth and looking for a group to go dipping with (more so than a triathlon group). Just wondering is there any group of casual swimmers/dippers that meet regularly? Would be nice especially coming into the winter months! Thanks!
Hi Elaine,
Look up the Aberystwyth Aquanuts on Facebook. They swim regularly all year round both in the sea and up at Pendam when the sea is too rough. Hopefully I’ll be swimming with them again soon as well (once I’ve fully recovered) so will no doubt see you soon.
Alan.
Hello everyone,
I will be working in West Wales this coming week, and would love to do some open water swimming (in the sea would be amazing). I swim in a lake regularly. Is there anyone or any group I could join just for this week? Thank you so much.
Macarena
Look up the Aberystwyth Aquanuts group on Facebook – we swim regularly year round in the sea from Aberystwyth or in a lake in the hills if the sea conditions aren’t suitable.
Thank you Alan, that’s excellent. I’ve now contacted the group, see how it goes. Best wishes, Macarena
No worries – they’ll all be very welcoming even without me there!! Hopefully soon I’ll be out swimming again too.
Al.