Richard Nelsson
Success! Smiles all round despite the challenging conditions
Credit: Garland illustration created by Freepik. Images credit: Vivienne Rickman Poole/OSS
With a strong tidal push, wild and choppy waters of varying temperatures, wind, rain, not to mention river and sea debris, the inaugural Hurly Burly 10km swim more than lived up to its name.
Setting off from Barmouth beach in North Wales, 200 determined swimmers made their way up the Mawddach estuary on a fast incoming spring tide, taking in changing scenery and water conditions before finishing at the hamlet of Penmaenpool, on the edge of Snowdonia.
The Hurly Burly, the latest long distance swim from the Outdoor Swimming Society (OSS) was billed as a tester event, open to entrants of an adventurous disposition.
As Kate Rew, OSS founder, put it: “We wanted to create an event for swimmers who had spent the summer months training and were looking for one last challenge – a last hurrah of the season.”