The 2010 series, which has so far featured the British Gas Great East Swim at Alton Water and the British Gas Great London Swim at Royal Victoria Dock, is attracting attention from around the globe and inspiring similar events in the US and Australia.
Ky Hurst (pictured on the left below), who won the elite men’s race at the British Gas great East Swim, has teamed up with fellow Aussie Brendan Capell (pictured on the right below), who was third at Alton Water, to organise a mass participation swim series Down Under this winter.
And Californian Brian McNeil (pictured above) has also been to see this year’s Great Swims as he sets about organising a big open water swim in Los Angeles.
Ky, who was also second at the British Gas Great London Swim, said: “Everyone associates Australia with swimming but there aren’t really any events that come close to the Great Swim Series, certainly not in terms of the numbers taking part.
“Both Brendan and I have been really impressed with what we’ve seen at the Great Swims. The organisation has been first-class and the atmosphere is tremendous. That’s why we would like to stage similar mass participation swims in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne of around 2.5km with elite races.”
Brendan, the world champion at 25km, added: “We really love the whole concept of the Great Swim Series and really believe that mass participation swimming could prove really popular in Australia.
“There are a lot of outdoor swims in Australia, especially in the ocean, but there’s nothing on the scale of the Great Swims. We really admire all the people who take on the Great Swim challenge.”
Brendan also has his sights on another big challenge – swimming the Channel in a new record time. The current records stands at 6hr 57min and was set in 2007 by Bulgarian Petar Stoychev – another man who has made a big splash in this year’s British Great Swim Series, with third place at the London Swim.
It’s 34km from Dover to Calais and Ky will also be there to help, having been tasked with setting the pace every second hour, for the full hour.
You can find out more about the duo at their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=109410879102523&share_id=123482004355520&comments=1#!/pages/CHC-Sports-Marketing/109410879102523
Brian McNeill, who lives in LA and is a regular ocean swimmer, is organising a 12.6 mile open water swim from Manhattan Beach to Santa Monica on October 16 called the OptimisSport Distance Swim Challenge.
The Pacific Ocean event is aimed at everyone, from elite swimmers to first-timers, and will be one of the longest open-water swim competitions in US history – though participants will be able to choose between tackling the whole course or 4.8 mile, 2.4 mile and 1.2 mile sections.
Brian said: “We wanted the event to be a showcase for what the human body can achieve. The whole event is a long way at 12.6 miles but the shorter sections mean it should appeal to just about anyone.
“The Great Swim Series is really inspiring and it’s great to see mass participation swimming on this scale. The organisation of the Great Swims is also terrific and so it’s been really inspiring to get to see the events close up.
“One of the things that really stands out is the atmosphere and so we’ll be looking to create something similar in California.”
Check out the OptimisSport Distance Swim Challenge Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/OptimisSport-Distance-Swim-Challenge/109701085719693#!/pages/OptimisSport-Distance-Swim-Challenge/109701085719693?v=wall