I've done a few Swimtreks & highly recommend them for reasons given here by others. Egypt has been my favourite, we've done it twice, sea life is amazing which makes it a great trip to take your time swimming on, so no need to worry if you're slow - hubby & I were both at the back the whole time first trip and loved it! A word on Strel's co, he's aping much of Swimtrek, & I'd always go with the originator & most experienced if you catch my drift J Janetta
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Message: 1 Date: Sun, 5 Jun 2011 17:56:31 +0100 From: "Liz Holliss" lizholliss@btconnect.com To: "James Lowe" James.Lowe@datacore.com, "Ben Waters" ben.waters2@gmail.com, OSSOxon@earth.li Subject: Re: [OSS Oxon] Swimming in warm places Message-ID: 070B7523EFAB734EA8EA8FCED18FF09D0579E19A@HEMV1DUKER.he.local Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Quite agree, also, if you go to Gozo/Egypt etc you might like to tag a bit on at the beginning or end, and do some diving? The sort of people who go on Swimtrek holidays are usually pretty sociable/mad types (you have to be, to do what we do). Finally got wet in the Thames this morning, and it wasn't nearly as cold as the sea in Cornwall last week. So no more excuses....!
Cheers, Liz
-----Original Message----- From: ossoxon-bounces@earth.li [mailto:ossoxon-bounces@earth.li] On Behalf Of James Lowe Sent: 02 June 2011 08:44 To: Ben Waters; OSSOxon@earth.li Subject: Re: [OSS Oxon] Swimming in warm places
Ben,
Give Swimtrek a go, I've been on half a dozen of their trips and they are a lot of fun. They are always well organized and having the guide boats with you the whole time means you are not obligated to swimming the whole day. The average swim length varies on each trip - you can find out more details on their website for each one - but I've been on trips where relative beginners (only ever swam 500m in a pool types) to national champions (10Km in 2.5 hours) have all swam on the same trip and the way they organize the disparity of speeds means you are never on your own or struggling to keep up.
I really enjoyed Croatia - calm seas, warm weather. Sardinia was fun to (a bit windy at times) but very varied in the type of swim - island to island, boat to boat, round the island. I haven't done greece - what put me off was the constant changing of hotels, some people like that, but I find that a chore. However that does mean you get a lot of variety. I have a freind who has done the British Virgin Islands 4 times now! That one is a bit pricey for me (and a lot of flying) but she says it is the best one. I'd also consider the one-off hellespont race and tag a long weekend in Istanbul. That;s a great experience (again you can do it if you can swim 2km) and as it is very hard to get invited into what is effectively a race - but also more of a gathering - Swimtrek is the only way to experience that.
James
PS I don't work for them ;)
________________________________________ From: ossoxon-bounces@earth.li [ossoxon-bounces@earth.li] on behalf of Ben Waters [ben.waters2@gmail.com] Sent: 31 May 2011 23:35 To: OSSOxon@earth.li Subject: [OSS Oxon] Swimming in warm places
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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Message: 2 Date: Sun, 5 Jun 2011 23:07:35 +0100 From: Sefryn Penrose sefryn@gmail.com To: OSSOxon@earth.li Subject: [OSS Oxon] Swim 4 & 5 of Swim the Thames Hannington Bridge to Buscott Lock Message-ID: BANLkTimDJ63WyAwSYzA9--ovKXey721L2w@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Herewith, deets for this weekend at Lechlade. Let me or Jeremy know if you have questions, and please let me know as soon as pos if you are intending to camp.
Swim #4 and Swim #5 of OSS Swim the Thames Weekend of 11/12 June
If you are intending to camp - meet at 10.30am on Saturday 11th at the Trout, Lechlade, for to pitch the tents:
If you are intending just to swim on Saturday, meet at:
Meet 12pm at Riverside Park carpark, Lechlade.
We will then shuttle to Hannington Bridge where we left off at the end of Swim #3 and swim downriver to Inglesham, via an extended stop on the way for lunch/warm up drinks/a rest (yet to be determined due to a lack of obvious access points). This is a distance of 5.7km, equivalent to swim 8 in Michael Worthington's book *I Love the Thames. *The Thames path does not follow the river for the duration of this swim so if you want to get out before the end, this may require a bit of field hopping and navigation. Don't forget to bring lunch for the pit(beach?)-stop.
We expect to finish by 4pm. We will then pick up cars and go to the campsite at the Trout, by St John's Bridge, Lechlade.
Handily there is a pub on site for anyone requiring warm up snifters, and weather permitting we will put up the barbecue and refuel for an evening (unnumbered) swim for those that want it. Bring food and drink for yourself/and/or to share.
On Sunday, we will shuttle back to Riverside Park (if you're just coming to this one, meet at 10.30am at Riverside Park), having left a couple of cars at the finish point, to restart for Swim #5 and swim past Lechlade, over the lock, into the navigable Thames and around to Buscott Lock, a distance of 3.9km, equivalent to swims 9 & 10 from *I Love the Thames*. We will then return to the Trout for a well-earned pub lunch.
Both these swims are reasonably long and we expect more swimming than wading, so bring wetsuits and rubber feet (and socks and gloves if you get cold). There will be breaks at predetermined points.
*If you would like to camp, please let me (Sef) know by reply asap so that I can tell the Trout how many of us to expect. The cost will be ?10 per tent/van/etc, with up to 6 people in each, so buddy up and get cosy!* ** *If you are not keen on the camping bit but would like to come overnight, there is more accommodation a short walk away in Lechlade. There is also space for caravans there, or a more equipped touring park next to Riverside Park, Bridge House, also walkable:* ** http://www.caravancampingsites.co.uk/gloucestershire/bridgehouse.htm
If you have not yet managed to make any of the Thames swims, please come along anyway if you fancy it - the more the merrier.
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 http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=swimming_tips&s=responsib ility &s=responsibility
Jeremy & Sef and the ticklable trouts of Team Thames
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Michel & Janetta