27 August 2015
2,600 participants, alongside top national and international elite swimmers will take on the challenge of the Great Scottish Swim at one of the country’s most iconic locations this weekend. Scotland’s biggest open water swimming event will take place at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park on Saturday 29 August.
Now in it’s third year at Loch Lomond shores, the event will see swimmers of all ages and abilities taking on half mile, one mile or two mile challenges in the open water. For the first time a gruelling 5k ‘half-marathon’ swim has also been added to the timetable.
(Commonwealth silver
medallist, Robbie Renwick)
Alex Jackson, Great Swim Series event director said, “It’s great to see the appetite for open water swimming increasing, the trend for taking on longer more challenging swims shows no sign of slowing down, over 250 people will take on the 5k challenge on Saturday.
“The opportunity to swim in such an iconic location continues to resonate with our swimmers not just in Scotland but around the UK, many are travelling up to enjoy a fantastic weekend in Scotland.”
In another first for 2015 the event will host the national one-mile open water championship race in partnership with Scottish Swimming. The race will be part of the elite competition which will see some of the world’s best open water swimmers, compete against Scotland’s top home grown talent.
Lining up for the one mile elite race will be 2014 Commonwealth Champion and local Balloch boy, Ross Murdoch, who will be competing in the open water for the first time, he will be joined by fellow Scot, Commonwealth silver medallist, Robbie Renwick. Both men are also now World Champions after being part of separate gold medal winning GB relay teams last month in Kazan.
They will be taking on international talent including 2015 World Champion in the 5k team open water swimming event, Christian Reichert of Germany as well as the newly crowned 2015 World Champion in the individual open water 5k and six time Midmar Mile winner, South Africa’s Chad Ho.
The women’s race will feature two time National USA 10KM Champion, Christine Jennings alongside two time World Champion, and Olympic Silver medallist, Team GB’s Keri-anne Payne.
Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, said: “The Great Scottish Swim at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park continues to grow in stature by giving swimmers the opportunity to compete in one of Scotland’s most stunning locations.
“Our natural environment makes Scotland the perfect stage for events and we look forward to welcoming competitors of all ages and abilities from across the country and even further afield for this unique challenge.”
Mairi Bell, Head of Visitor Experience at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park added: “We have seen a real growth in open water swimming in the National Park; the recent Scottish Swimming training day at Milarrochy Bay was a complete sell-out. The Lochs in the National Park provide the perfect opportunity to try the sport with many local clubs and coaches available.
“We hope people are inspired by the Great Scottish Swim and explore the breadth of opportunities there are to get out and get active in Loch Lomond & The Trossachs.”
The event is part of Great Swim, Europe’s biggest open water swimming series, which gives over 20,000 participants the opportunity to swim in lakes, lochs and urban docks across the UK including; the Great North Swim at Windermere, Cumbria, the Great East Swim at Alton Water, near Ipswich, the Great Manchester Swim at Salford Quays and the Great London Swim at the Royal Victoria Dock.
For more information, visit greatswim.org/Scotland or find out more from our swimming community on facebook.com/greatswim and twitter.com/great_swim