Suggest a swim for me

IronMike

OK, I've seen this sort of thing in watch- and beer-geek forums, so I thought I'd give it a try here. N.B., I searched for a thread similar to this, and the closest I got is the "What's your next swim?" thread. Keeping with the spirit of that thread title, I decided to start a new thread.

So here goes. I need your help in finding a swim to aim for next year (May-Sept timeframe). Of course, there are limits:

a) Must be a short (no more than ~4 hours) flight from Istanbul, Turkey, and easily gotten to from a major airport;
b) Must not be a championship or a race limited to speedy folks (I want to avoid the horror of my first 5K). If there is a speed requirement, I am about a 3K per hour swimmer;
c) Must have a race director or organizer who can help a language-limited person such as myself coming from a long distance;
d) Speaking of distance, I'd like a swim in the 15-25K range;
e) I'm not looking to organize from afar some sort of solo affair; I'd like an organized, established swim;
f) I need an event where support boats (if needed) can be provided/found/hired easily, as well as crew;
g) Finally, I want to avoid a lottery entry. Hard enough for me to get time off work, and arrange airfare from Bishkek. I'd like a "sure thing" (entry-wise at least!)

I've been looking at @Niek's excellent calendar and see some candidates, but I'd like your take in what I should look to do next year.

Thanks everyone who's read this far and especial thanks for any suggestions.

loneswimmer

Cork to Cobh 16k in mid September meets all your requirements. It's a tougher swim than the distance would indicate (such that most of the locals only do it once but there's also nearly always some visitors who arrive for it.) but not speed limited. Starts in the middle of Cork City with the river flow and finishes in Cobh in Cork harbour. Cork harbour is like the European version of San Francisco bay, the biggest natural bay in Europe and Cohn was the Titanic's last port

Usually about 20 entries, no lottery but must complete a 3/4 hour qualification swim if you aren't known to the organiser (Fergus Galvin of Sandycove).

swimmer25k

There used to be a pro race in Lake Ohrid, Macedonia/Albania. Maybe they still have some events there.

swimmer25k

There's also Capri to Naples, but I don't know any specs of the swim.

IronMike

Thanks guys, keep the recommendations coming. I've only heard of two of these so far, so this is good. I'd click LIKE if I could.

heleng

Perhaps the BLDSA Lake Windermere (10.5miles/16.9km)

IronMike

@heleng, that's one of the ones I was initially looking at.

ZoeSadler

The BLDSA Windermere swim would be fabulous for you (29 Aug 2015). Although it is an event, the aim of the vast majority will be to complete the swim rather than to race it. The only thing is that it might not fit a couple of your criteria. (a) It's not the easiest place to get to, although you can get to Windermere train station from Manchester airport with a change in train. A car would be a better bet. (f) You will need at least 2 support crew to row the boat (the rowing boat is supplied in the entry fee). If you have completed a 8 mile open water swim since March in the same calendar year then you are allowed to have a kayaker instead, so only 1 support crew needed, but bring your own kayak. If you put the word out early enough you may be able to find crew over here.

Other swims I can think of in this neck of the woods, but they are a little shorter than your ideal.
BLDSA Torbay 8 miles in the sea. 4th July 2015. You don't have to supply crew for this one.
Henley Swim Bridge to Bridge 14.1K
Jubilee River Swim. It's only 10K but you can come and visit me in my lake afterwards!

mpfmark

He could do it with volunteers too. It's a doddle to organise ....just shout

IronMike

Thanks @ZoeSadler, Windermere has been on my bucket list for some time now. Perhaps a single crossing in 2015 and try the double in 2016? I'll also look up those other swims you list. The Torbay I've heard of, although I'm always iffy on salt water after my Ocean City experience.

@mpfmark, sounds like "doddle" means it would be easy, yes?

mpfmark

Yes @ironmike it's a simple and cheap to organise. Here to help if you need anything

IronMike

Thanks @mpfmark!

jonnyS

OK, So, Living in Shanghai, China, means limited/no local swims available.
I would love to know any good 5km-20km swims within a 3 hour flight from Shanghai.
I'd need support crew/ paddler to be provided if the race was of that length.. I've seen a couple of swims of 15km out of hong kong which look good, but something else to work with in the middle would be ideal.
I'm heading home to New Zealand in December and will take part in a couple of events back there (no Cook Straight swim yet..)
All help and pointers would be much appreciated..
Cheers,

IronMike

@jonnyS, I know a few folks who live in China. I'll contact them and see if they know of anything for you.

Not knowing much about the area, where can 3 hours take you from Shanghai? What countries should I look at?

jonnyS

The good news @IronMike it is a pretty large area, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and South China all fit in that. Any help for a newbie would be awesome.

jonnyS

Thanks @Niek

I have already lined up the cold and clean half in Hong Kong, look like good swims. The Taiwan 15,000 person swim could be something to say you survived! pretty cool.

And you are right, for someone living in China, not being able to read Japanese or korean is no problem... bigger problem is I can't read Chinese!

Thanks again for your help, will get someone from work to help me decipher the Korean and Japanese websites.

[Deleted User]

I'm doing the Clean Half in Hong Kong a week on Saturday, 15k.

tortuga

How about the Beowolf swim? From Sweden to Denmark. Epic shit.

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

jonnyS

Good luck in HK @warmwater hope it is a good swim

IronMike

@tortuga, is the Beowulf swim an actual open water swim? I'm not finding anything on it, and your link just takes me to Google Maps without any reference to Denmark or Sweden.

heart

Mike, wanna cross the Sea of Galilee lengthwise? I can hook you up with people in the know who speak decent English.

tortuga

No, Beowulf swim isn't an organized event, just an epic swim done by an epic hero a thousand or so years ago. I'm a little surprised it's not an event though. I mean, slay dragons, swim oceans....what else is there?

tortuga

IronMike, here's the exerpt. It's commonly assumed that Breca and Beowulf swam the strait between what is now Denmark and Sweden. Epic shit bro. (I'm not sure that 'sword and mail-shirt' meet EC rules for swim gear)

Swimming Contest with Breca

voice came from the mead-benches. Unferth, son of Eglaf, spoke. Unferth was a well-known warrior, an important man among the Danes. He could not bear to think that anyone was braver or could do more famous deeds than he.

'Aren't you the Beowulf who had the swimming contest with Breca?' Unferth asked. 'He certainly beat you there, after seven days in the icy waves of the open sea. Day and night the two of you struggled in the grip of the icy ocean. But Breca reached home before you. You won't last long if you dare to wait for Grendel and meet him face to face.'

'Well now, Unferth, my friend. No wonder you talk so much after all that beer. You have a lot to say about Breca and what he did. Breca was my best friend. When we were still boys we vowed one day to try out our strength against the sea.

We took our swords to ward off the whales and swam into the freezing waves. For five days and nights we stayed together in the icy water, until a furious North wind swept us apart in the dark night. Breca was washed ashore but I stayed at sea. For the anger of the water-beasts had been roused and I had plenty to do. They attacked me, meaning to make a feast of me - one even dragged me to the bottom - but my mail-shirt protected me and my sword hacked at them hard.

Nine monsters I killed that night. Their bodies lay on the shore when morning came. They would no longer attack ships as they crossed the swan's riding-place.

As for you, Unferth, I haven't heard any tales of you offering to fight Grendel. The monster knows he has nothing to fear from you.'

Unferth could make no reply.

miklcct

Hi, I'm a new swimmer and need some suggestions. I would like to do my first marathon swimming before March 2020, and want to find a race of intermediate distance before it.

My requirement is the following:

Date: before December 2019
Location: North East, East and South East Asia
Distance: between 5 km to 10 km effective (i.e. after reducing current assistance)
Format: must be a timed race with enough cut off time for my target (2 hours for 5 km, 4 hours and 15 minutes for 10 km)
Water type: prefer rough water
Water temperature: must be less than 24°C, prefer 16°C

GlobalSwimmer

@miklcct said:
Hi, I'm a new swimmer and need some suggestions. I would like to do my first marathon swimming before March 2020, and want to find a race of intermediate distance before it.

My requirement is the following:

Date: before December 2019
Location: North East, East and South East Asia
Distance: between 5 km to 10 km effective (i.e. after reducing current assistance)
Format: must be a timed race with enough cut off time for my target (2 hours for 5 km, 4 hours and 15 minutes for 10 km)
Water type: prefer rough water
Water temperature: must be less than 24°C, prefer 16°C

16C will be challenging in SEA - I suggest you try the Cold Half in your backyard, do it the first year in a 2-man relay (7.5km), next year on your own (15km). Or if you fancy some travel, you can find several races in Japan, although normally shorter and offered in summer time (again, warmer than 16C).

miklcct

@GlobalSwimmer said:

@miklcct said:
Hi, I'm a new swimmer and need some suggestions. I would like to do my first marathon swimming before March 2020, and want to find a race of intermediate distance before it.

My requirement is the following:

Date: before December 2019
Location: North East, East and South East Asia
Distance: between 5 km to 10 km effective (i.e. after reducing current assistance)
Format: must be a timed race with enough cut off time for my target (2 hours for 5 km, 4 hours and 15 minutes for 10 km)
Water type: prefer rough water
Water temperature: must be less than 24°C, prefer 16°C

16C will be challenging in SEA - I suggest you try the Cold Half in your backyard, do it the first year in a 2-man relay (7.5km), next year on your own (15km). Or if you fancy some travel, you can find several races in Japan, although normally shorter and offered in summer time (again, warmer than 16C).

Cold Half is already on my bucket list, which I'd like to do it in 2020 - but it is 15 km - Therefore I'm posting this.

I would like to do the relay this year clean half as well, but finding a teammate is a huge problem because I don't have friends who do long distance swimming.