May 2011 - OSSOxon

Swim the Thames 2
by Sefryn Penrose 11 Oct '11

11 Oct '11

*Dear all, Details of Swim #2 in OSS Oxford and Reading's Swim the Thames event series. This is the second swim of the OSS Swim the Thames event and we will pick up where we left off at Water Eaton footbridge. Hopefully by now the Thames will be deep enough to allow for more swimming than wading. The swim will combine swims 3 and 4 from Michael Worthington's book - 'I Love the Thames' - and will cover about 3km. If the going gets too heavy we can always stop part way and re-schedule the remainder for another day. We will be meeting at 10:30 on Sun 15 May 2011 in the Red Lion car park at Castle Eaton (marked by the green arrow). We have promised we will eat lunch there at the end of our swim. http://tinyurl.com/CastleEatonRL The swim will be from Water Eaton footbridge (marked by green arrow) http://tinyurl.com/WaterEatonFoB to Round House farm, which is upstream of the Red Lion. We can shuttle up to Water Eaton where there is limited parking for 3 cars - just - in a pull off from the road next to the entrance to the private fishermen's carpark (marked by green arrow). http://tinyurl.com/WaterEatonParking (If no fishermen are present the green field car park makes for a good outdoor changing room.) Walk up the road towards Castle Eaton and take the Bridle Path to Water Eaton footbridge. We will exit the river opposite the Round House farm campsite (marked by green arrow). http://tinyurl.com/RoundHouseExit Then walk down stream about 1km back to the Red Lion for lunch. The Red Lion is the first pub on the Thames and the grounds go down to the river so must be part of the Swim the Thames experience. Following our experience with swim (wade) #1 this is going to require a decent pair of 'feet' - a pair of surf boots with thick grip soles - but you can get cheap shoes of the kind that you can buy at the beach for very little and they'll do, either on their own, or with a pair of wetsuit socks which are again quite cheap. (See OSS Facebook Wading shoes discussion http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=55781602829&v=app_2373072738#!/topic.… ). As I (Sef) missed Swim 1, I will be catching up on this on Saturday. If anyone would like to join me, **drop me a line, or if you have any questions *(07949039099). * **By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement: http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=sw imming_tips&s=responsibility See you there! Jeremy & Sef Oxford(a)outdoorswimmingsociety.com*

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Swimming in warm places
by Ben Waters 05 Jun '11

05 Jun '11

Dear swimmers, i am fairly new to this list and enjoy reading what you do here, swim all over places. I moved from NW Canada for work and would like to go around Europe while here in UK. I've seen you also do swimming trips to many EU destinations and i wonder if someone could recommend where to go(warm places). I am not a great swimmer but i can swim a km or two in one Go. I see firms swim trek and strels are offering trips down in croatia, italy, greece. Any advise on this would be greatly appreciated. Hope to join you in the water soon. Thank you, Ben

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Swim the Thames #3 - BH Monday 30th May
by Sefryn Penrose 30 May '11

30 May '11

This swim is on Spring Bank Holiday Monday 30th May. ----------- Hello all, Here is the updated info for Swim 3 of the OSS Oxon & Reading Swim the Thames event series. This is the third swim of the OSS Swim the Thames series. The Thames is deep enough to swim along longer stretches, or the commando crawl (tm) is always an option - its originators will be happy to teach you - but there are still very shallow parts where wading is unavoidable (ajnd enjoyable for those of us in the Extreme Wading Society). This stretch will combine the end of swim 5, swim 6 and swim 7 from Michael Worthington's book - 'I Love the Thames' - and will cover a distance of 4.6km. This is longer than previously thought and equivalent in length to Sunday 14th's #swim 2. There are issues along this stretch with trespass-free exit points which is why we are going for the longer swim. The Thames Path now diverts from the river and the bank is private land. If the going gets too tough, exit points have been identified and we will have a drink and sugary eat break at approximately 3km for those who want an energy supplement, where the path meets the river. This and one other point have been identified for those who would like to get out before Hannington Bridge and will be indicated as we approach them. Because of the length of the swim and the fact that we'll still be river-walking, wetsuits and rubber feet are essentials. Meet at 10.30am at the Red Lion, Castle Eaton. We will return here after the swim for a pub lunch. Look forward to seeing you there! http://tinyurl.com/3bkncxh By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement: http://www.outdoorswimming society.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsibility Jeremy & Sef Oxford(a)outdoorswimmingsociety.com

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Swim the Thames #3
by Sefryn Penrose 22 May '11

22 May '11

Hello all, Here is the updated info for Swim 3 of the OSS Oxon & Reading Swim the Thames event series. This is the third swim of the OSS Swim the Thames series. The Thames is deep enough to swim along longer stretches, or the commando crawl (tm) is always an option - its originators will be happy to teach you - but there are still very shallow parts where wading is unavoidable (ajnd enjoyable for those of us in the Extreme Wading Society). This stretch will combine the end of swim 5, swim 6 and swim 7 from Michael Worthington's book - 'I Love the Thames' - and will cover a distance of 4.6km. This is longer than previously thought and equivalent in length to Sunday 14th's #swim 2. There are issues along this stretch with trespass-free exit points which is why we are going for the longer swim. The Thames Path now diverts from the river and the bank is private land. If the going gets too tough, exit points have been identified and we will have a drink and sugary eat break at approximately 3km for those who want an energy supplement, where the path meets the river. This and one other point have been identified for those who would like to get out before Hannington Bridge and will be indicated as we approach them. Because of the length of the swim and the fact that we'll still be river-walking, wetsuits and rubber feet are essentials. Meet at 10.30am at the Red Lion, Castle Eaton. We will return here after the swim for a pub lunch. Look forward to seeing you there! http://tinyurl.com/3bkncxh By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement: http://www.outdoorswimming society.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsibility Jeremy & Sef Oxford(a)outdoorswimmingsociety.com

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Re: [OSS Oxon] [OSS RATS] OSS Swim the Thames - Swim #2
by Chris Dalton 15 May '11

15 May '11

Hi All, GPS tracks for this weekend are here: Saturday http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85543970 Sunday http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85850399 As I expected the track for Sunday was a bit off in distance due to losing lock. Measured on an OS 25k map the total distance was a tad over 4km, which stacks up nicely time-wise with the previous section. Good times for me. See you all next time! CD

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New E Mail address
by Lynne & carl Akers 13 May '11

13 May '11

Dear all, Following a E Mail difficulties with Virgin Media, our new E Mail address is the one from which this message is sent. Please delete <mailto:theakersfamily@ntlworld.com> theakersfamily(a)ntlworld.com from your address books and replace with <mailto:allakersclan@gmail.com> allakersclan(a)gmail.com Apologies if you receive this E mail more than once, but I have sent to all my contacts and it may be that you are on an additional contact list as well as an individual contact! Thank you! Lynne & Carl

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OSS Swim the Thames - Swim #1 Cricklade Bridge to Water Eaton House - Mon 02 May 10:30 - 15:00
by Jeremy Wellingham 02 May '11

02 May '11

Swim #1 in OSS Oxon and Reading's Swim the Thames event series. Cricklade Bridge to Water Eaton House - Mon 02 May 10:30 - 15:00 This is the first "swim" in our attempt to swim the length of the Thames from the source to the sea (well the end of the non-tidal Thames at Teddington at least). Following on from the initial walk from the Source to Cricklade on Good Friday, we will paddle, wade and even swim a bit from Cricklade Bridge to Water Eaton House. This stretch combines swims 1 & 2 from Michael Worthington's book - 'I Love the Thames' -... and will cover 3km but if the going gets too heavy we will stop half way at Eysey Manor footbridge and re-schedule the remainder for another day. We will be meeting at 10:30am at the Town Hall car park in Cricklade (marked by green arrow). (Same as the Good Friday Source to Cricklade walk.) http://tinyurl.com/Cricklade-TH >From here we will shuttle down to the end point at the footbridge near Water Eaton House - parking is limited - and walk back up to Cricklade so we can survey the river for obstacles from the safety of the bank. (Recommended practice from Mike's book and particularly relevant for these early sections of the river.) To avoid any gymnastics at Cricklade bridge we can jump in the river from the path at the point it diverges from the river just on the boundary of Cricklade and paddle up the river to Cricklade bridge and then turn round and start the paddle proper back down to Water Eaton house. Shuttle back to Cricklade and find a pub for drink / lunch. (Or bring a picnic if the weather is kind . . .) Having inspected the Thames at Cricklade at the end of our Source to Cricklade walk this is going to require a decent pair of 'feet' - a pair of surf boots with thick grip soles - but you can get cheap shoes of the kind that you can buy at the beach for very little and they'll do, either on their own, or with a pair of wetsuit socks which are again quite cheap. (See OSS Wading Shoes Facebook discussion - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=55781602829&v=app_2373072738#!/topic.… <http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=55781602829&topic=17110>) By attending you confirm that you are a member of the OSS and have read and accepted the OSS swim responsibility statement: http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib… All swimmers swim at their own risk. Jeremy Wellingham And Sefryn Penrose e-mail: Oxford(a)outdoorswimmingsociety.com

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