David Walliams is an inspiration to us all. And so he has caused a slight change of plan on account of his Thames swim from Cricklade to Westminster Bridge in 8 days. 'Walliams vs. the Thames' starts at Cricklade on Monday and finishes that leg of the swim the same evening at Bablock Hythe, at the Ferryman, a fair whack. Some of us will be welcoming him there. An advance group have therefore decided to do a throw-down of Swim 12 (Northmoor to the Ferryman, Bablock Hythe) in order to keep up with the uber-mensch, although with his 'channel a day for 8 days' ability he might just overtake.

For the rest of us, a small reorganisation is in order.

Swim 12 will take place on the evening of Saturday September 10th. Meet at Northmoor Lock campsite at 4.30pm to be in the river for 5pm.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?daddr=%2B51%C2%B0+42%27+56.72%22,+-1%C2%B0+22%27+34.82%22+%2851.715756,+-1.376338%29&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sll=51.715869,-1.37637&sspn=0.003463,0.010525&geocode=CWp2Bs4ttEs_FaweFQMdrv_q_w&mra=mift&vpsrc=0&t=h&z=17

If you'd like to camp then come a bit earlier to set up (or it can be done post-swim). We will then have an evening swim down to the Ferryman at Bablock Hythe where we may have a pint before returning to Northmoor by foot and a barbecue there. The distance is 2.5km, and is swim 24 from I Love the Thames. There's a full moon on the 12th so we'll probably have a later lunar dip.

The following day, Sunday 11th September, meet at 10.30am at the Ferryman.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=ferryman%20bablock%20hythe&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl

We'll then all swim down from the Ferryman to Pinkhill Lock. If the weather is nice, we'll walk back. If it's grim, we'll aim to leave clothes down at the lock end and shuttle back if necessary. The swim is 3.5km, and is swim 25 from I Love the Thames. The walk is a bit shorter!

Lunch at the Ferryman.

If you would like to camp at Northmoor, please let Sef or Jeremy know.

September and October dates for your diary:
#12    Mon05Sep11   Northmoor Lock to Bablock Hythe    2.45km   
#12    Sat10Sep11    Northmoor Lock to Bablock Hythe    2.45km    (Optional camp at Northmoor on Sat Night)
#13    Sun11Sep11   Bablock Hythe to Pinkhill Lock         3.75km
#14    Sat24Sep11    Pinkhill to Cassington Cut                3.3km      
#15    Sun09Oct11    Cassington Cut to Kings Lock          3.4km   
#16    Sun23Oct11    Kings Lock to Danger Bridge            3.7km       

If you haven't joined any 'swim the Thames' swims thus far, come along for Saturday or Sunday - there's still 7 more days to Westminster Bridge (if you're David Walliams) or several hundred to the Nore (if you're not).

Any questions, drop us a line.

Jeremy and Sef and the beleaguered bacteria of the Thames.

Oxford@outdoorswimmingsociety.com

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