SIGN UP HERE

Testing the waters before your race

We want your race to be the best experience for you. We take the safety of our athletes very seriously and this includes ensuring, to the best of our ability, that the lake water is suitable for swimming. We have a thorough and rigorous testing procedure in the lead up to event day to make sure of this.

Testing Timeline

Our water tests begin at 6 weeks before event day. This is then followed by 4 weeks and 2 weeks prior to the race.

The water samples are taken from several points in the body of water and the tests are conducted in a lab to test for both E. coli and Enterococci to ensure that the water quality is safe to swim in.

 

Event Week

For river fed lakes, in the week leading up to the event, these tests increase to once every morning; 5, 4 and 3 days prior to the event. This is to ensure the quality of the water has not fluctuated from previous results. The results take a minimum of 48 hours, and as such we do not conduct testing 2 days prior to or over the race weekend.

We publish all results on our website in the lead up to each event weekend on the “Event” page for each venue.

LATEST WATER TEST

Quality Results

The water quality is generally classed as excellent, good, sufficient or poor – based on the number of colony forming units per 100ml (cfu/100ml). We publish all our water quality result on our website in the lead up to each event, and these can be found on the event information page.

In the result of a body of water testing “poor” we would have to take the unfortunate decision to cancel the swim section of our event ensure the safety of our athletes and would notify participants as soon as possible.

What can athletes do?

Swimming in open water will always come with some level of risk. The most common occurrence causing illness is due to the ingestion of water (whether knowingly or unknowingly) whilst completing the swim. There are recommendations for athletes to follow whilst undertaking the swim, such as keeping your mouth closed and avoid swallowing any of the water.

Bring provisions to wash your hands and face thoroughly once you have finished your swim and before handling food. We provide hand sanitising gel at the finish line area, allowing you the opportunity to clean your hands before enjoying the refreshments.

For further information on how participants can minimise the risk, please read our Open Water Swim Guidance.

UK River Health

Unfortunately, we know that there are some rivers in the UK that are declining. The impact of intense agricultural practices from industries such as dairy, maize and egg production, coupled with occasional storm overflow mean that some of the UK’s rivers are becoming more polluted. Polluted rivers are bad news for open water swimmers as well as being bad news for us, as race organisers.

If there has been heavy rainfall in the days prior to event weekend we will take a view as to if we go ahead with the swim as we know that this can have a detrimental effect on water quality.

Keeping Up to Date

We want to do all that we can to ensure the bodies of water you swim in when you race with us are fantastic locations for open water swimming and are clean and fresh. We work with the Environment Agency to ensure we have the most up to date information regarding the bodies of water that participants swim in.

In addition, we work with organisations such as TriSwim, who frequently organise open water swims in Hever Castle Lake. Working alongside these organisation, along with our rigorous testing procedure, means that we have as much information as possible about the bodies of water prior to event weekend.

Taking the Plunge

We know swimming in open water can be daunting for some and we aim to help athletes as much as possible. Our article about how to transition from pool to open water can help those who are nervous about taking the plunge.

Prior to our triathlon and multisport events, our coaching partner, Tri Training Harder offer familiarisation evenings, which are designed to build confidence and also give you a chance to swim in the lake before the big day.

Further Information

Swimming in open water should be a fun and positive experience. We want all athletes that swim at our events to have a positive experience and we want to encourage and support athletes in this process. Our open water guidance will give you further information on how athletes can best protect themselves when swimming in open water.

If you’d like any more information about our testing procedures or further information regarding the bodies of water we swim in, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.