News / Bristol Harbour
Swimmers brave the cold in first day of harbour swimming pilot
Jeanette Summerhayes and Gillian Hart became the first people to take a dip in Bristol’s harbour on Saturday, in the first day of a five-week long harbour swimming pilot.
Jeanette from St George, Bristol, and Gillian from Bambury, Oxfordshire, donned buoyancy aids and woolly hats as they took to the water underneath a foggy sky.
“It’s different to what I expected,” Gillian told Bristol24/7. The pair are regular cold water swimmers, and can be found at Clevedon Lake with their swimming team, the Bristol Bluetits.
is needed now More than ever
Wild swimmers Gillian and Jeanette were the first to take part in the five-week long pilot on Saturday
They were joined by dozens of swimmers who came down to the harbour to test the water in what is the first sell-out day of the Bristol City Council pilot.
The council hopes the trial will determine whether or not it can provide a designated open water swimming area that is safe and financially sustainable in the long-term.
92 per cent of the 80 swimmers who took part in the pilot on Saturday were women, and many had come with their local swimming groups.
West of England wild swimming group, Almost Synchro, were clad in their famous red swimsuits and flowery swim hats.
The Bristol-based swimmers were formed in 2019, and bring mass synchronised swimming to the lakes and rivers of western England, with Esther Williams, The Ayalillies and even Bollywood being among their influences.
Almost Synchro members were next in
The pilot is located on the Baltic Wharf section of the harbour, accessible via a ramp in front of the harbourside pub, the Cottage Inn, and big inflatable buoys mark 100m points along the harbour.
Uswim, an open-water swimming company, are overseeing the pilot, in conjunction with local charity All-Aboard Watersports.
Councillor Ellie King told Bristol24/7 the water will be tested weekly in partnership with Wessex Water, and that the Baltic Wharf section was chosen as it is the cleanest area of the harbour.
Speaking about the pilot, she said: “It brings a new audience to Bristol.”
“We’ve got a great harbour, a great cultural offering, and this is just going to add to it, so it’s a really exciting opportunity.”
Bristol harbour swimming pilot will run from 8am to 10am every Saturday and Sunday until May 28.
Main photo: Mia Vines Booth
Read more:
- Protestors strip off for wild swimming demonstration
- Husband and wife take the plunge ahead of harbour swim pilot
- Rees: ‘The harbour has become a financial drain on Bristol’
- ‘Education, not prohibition, should be the answer to wild swimming’
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