[OSS RATS] [OSS Oxon] Swim the Thames

Tue Apr 5 13:01:52 BST 2011

Hi - I'd be interested in joining some sections, probably once the water has warmed up a bit as I'm a bit of a lightweight! Cheers,  Judy --- On Mon, 4/4/11, Jeremy Wellingham <jeremy at wellingham.com> wrote: 
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid"> From: Jeremy Wellingham <jeremy at wellingham.com> Subject: [OSS Oxon] Swim the Thames To: ossoxon at earth.li, ossrats at earth.li Date: Monday, 4 April, 2011, 23:12 
<DIV id=yiv1220716808>
<DIV class=yiv1220716808gmail_quote>
<DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
A few of us have decided we want to swim the length of the Thames during the course of the next year or three. We will be doing this in small sections, in sequence, using Mike Worthington’s book – ‘I Love the Thames’ – as our guide, starting at the Source of the Thames and working our way down to Teddington, a distance of around 150 miles. We expect to swim on a Saturday or Sunday, probably every other week or so. This is not an endurance test but more a way to
 experience the complete Thames and hopefully add to our repertoire of swimming locations that we can come back to in the future. To start with we will be aiming for a swim of a mile or two in the morning or afternoon but as the weather warms up, and we get the measure of our capabilities, we can adjust the distance and maybe do some full days combined with a picnic lunch. Later in the summer, we may program weekend swims, camping overnight, and full moon swims, to make the journey as enjoyable and diverse as possible. The first section of the Thames is a walk of around 12 miles from The Source near Kemble in Gloucestershire to Cricklade.  We will do this on Easter Friday – 22 April - with a picnic lunch.  The next section we expect to be more of a wade than a swim which we will tackle the following May bank holiday weekend, avoiding the Wedding Friday to cater for Royalists! We will gauge the distance following a recce at the end of our initial walk. It may be difficult to make all the swims / walks so you are more than welcome to join us for any sections that take your fancy or fit your schedule, and if you want to catch up on sections missing from your collection we hope to record our experiences to provide some hints so you could do them independently. We will make up the schedule and logistics as we go along and try to set dates a month or two in advance and post them on the OSS sites as per normal swims. In order not to overload the e-mail network, we will set up a separate group list for those interested in taking part, or following progress, and also a Facebook group to post stories and pictures on. We will also post swim alerts, as usual, to the OSS Oxon list and to Facebook. 
Let us know if you think you would like to join us  - the more, the merrier - along the beautiful Thames.
Usual OSS terms and conditions apply.</BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></DIV></DIV> -----Inline Attachment Follows----- 
<DIV class=plainMail>_______________________________________________ OSS Oxon mailing list <A href="http://uk.mc867.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=OSSOxon@earth.li" ymailto="mailto:OSSOxon at earth.li">OSSOxon at earth.li</A> <A href="http://www.earth.li/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ossoxon" target=_blank>http://www.earth.li/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ossoxon</A> Please note that OSS Oxon exists to put swimmers in touch with other swimmers, not to organise swim events or in any way suggest that outdoor swimming is a safe activity or that you should go swimming. If you choose to swim you do so entirely at your own risk and on your own initiative, and any plans you make are your own responsibility.</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>