A Bank Holiday Swim

No wind, no surf and some sunshine greeted us in Aberystwyth on Monday morning for our swim. It was a later start time than usual at 8:30am so that more people would be likely to join in as we were planning on swimming from South Beach, all the way across Aberystwyth, and then on beyond the cliffs to Clarach – and back of course.

10 of us gathered on the beach for the usual chat and mutual assistance of zipping up wetsuits etc. We then plunged into the fairly wamt water’s (around 17ºC) and headed off. There was a little bit of stopping and chatting on the way from South Beach around to North Beach, but not too much, just quick stops to let people catch up and see how everyone was doing. There was a really cold patch of water over the top of Castle Rocks too.

We normally swim to the beach at the end of the prom, this time though we were heading further north to Clarach. We stopped by Consti to look for others who were supposed to be joining us but there was no sign of them either on the water or on the beach / prom so continued on our way. We were getting a little split up by now as we were all swimming at different paces but most people were together and those that were a little slower had worn fins so were actually swimming faster than many. I was swimming in the shadow of the rocks and out at the front but stopped every now and then to wait for others to catch up. Morgan and I then spotted Helen and probably Larry or Richard a little further out and continuing to swim north so we decided to continue on to Clarach and all re-group there. The others behind us were all in little groups too.

As I got to Clarach before the others I decided to do a little loop of the bay over to the river and then loop back to them on the beach where we all gathered for a little natter. Visibility wasn’t great but I was able to see the seabed here for a while in the shallows which is always nice. I joined up with the others who were now waiting on the beach and we were joined by Alistair who had indeed decided to join us from Consti after all, but hadn’t seen us coming so left after us and tried to catch us up. After about 15 mins on the beach at Clarach some people were getting cold so started to head off. I’d told the others I had to be back at South beach for 10:30 so now only had 45 minutes to get back which should be doable if I didn’t stop too much. I told them I’d swim back out in front ahead of them on my own so not to worry about me during the head counts on the way back and I headed off. Helen came with me too as she was feeling cold and didn’t want to wait around getting colder. The swim back was good, not too much trouble from the currents and all at a nice steady pace with just one or two pauses rather than proper stops. Helen and I arrived back at South Beach just after 10:30 with a total time of 1:58 in the water and around 7km covered. It wasn’t a bad pace for the distance, especially when you factor in the stops on the way to Clarach and 15 minutes or so chatting on the beach in Clarach as well.

I got changed and jumped in the car ready for a family afternoon out geocaching and the others started arriving at the beach as I left. Everyone looked as though they had enjoyed themselves on our little swim adventure.

Tags: Open Water SwimmingswimmingWild Swimming