Last month a group of girls ALIVE open water swimmers headed to Dorset for a swim camp. We had the most amazing time.
For this year’s swim camp we based ourselves in Swanage and Chloe organised several adventure swims for us along the beautiful Jurassic Coast, starting with a full moon sunset swim at Sandbanks Beach, on the evening of the summer solstice.
On the Friday we swam around Swanage Bay to the pier and Saturday’s swim was a classic 3km session out to the Old Harry Rocks, via the seahorse coral breeding ground. Sunday’s session was the pinnacle however, with a swim through the iconic Durdle Door arch.
We were extremely lucky with the weather and enjoyed calm seas and sunshine.
As always with these events Chloe is meticulous with our safety and before each swim session she held a safety briefing, where we were informed about the sea conditions, areas of risk, swim distance etc. Options were made available for anyone who may have needed a shorter swim.
Ladies could choose to swim in a wetsuit or swimming costume, we had tow floats and brightly coloured girls ALIVE swimming hats. Most swim sessions lasted around an hour, which was just as well because the sea has been very slow in warming up this year (it was still a chilly 14 degrees for our weekend!)
Not content with Chloe’s organised swims some of the ladies had additional sea dips over the weekend (with Beth hitting FOUR swims in one day). We also had an afternoon to ourselves at Lulworth Cove, which saw a few people opting for a gentle bay swim, some fun paddle boarding (thanks to Julie and her SUP boards) and an exhilarating speed boat trip.
Over the course of the weekend, we swam between 10km and 12km. Everyone arrived on the beach for each session with positive energy and we left the weekend with beaming smiles and very happy memories.
Watch this space for more information or speak to Esther if you see her at the Shac in Buckland or on a Wednesday night hike.
