This event was a result of a late night brain storming session. Sea Swim Cornwall wanted to come up with a shorter, safer event specifically aimed at slower swimmers, swimming newbies, the head up breaststrokers, the less competitive swimmer, people that don’t like the mass starts and aren’t a fan of the more formal and competitive swimming events.
We set a rough geographical area for the swims and then wait until 2-3 days before the event day. We’ll then email the participants after looking at a short range, fairly accurate forecast of the conditions. This allows us to offer enjoyable swims, in the most favourable and safe conditions.
The Swimfari events typically consist of 3-5 swims over the course of the morning and afternoon. Each swim is approx 500 - 1200m in length. The exact distance is up to you, as is whether or not you take part in all of the swims. We have a number of water safety crew spread out across the swim length, so it’s very easy to turn back early if you’d like.
The St Mawes Swimfari this year was a real hit. We planned the whole event around having a spring high tide at the St Just-in-Roseland pool / harbour. A swim that never disappoints. You walk down through the subtropical Church garden to the banks of the harbour. From there you have a sheltered swim, in the shadow of the Church and gardens. Most swam out through the harbour and onto the river. This year we had a little morning mist, which made the swim a little more dramatic than usual but no less spectacular. From there we put on 3 magical swims, all based around St Mawes Castle and St Mawes itself. The feedback from the event has been great and we’ll look to plan a 10km swim around the same area in 2022 (broken into 2 x 5km swims).
