Back to Bantham: rediscovering the joy of event swimming

After spending years volunteering for the Outdoor Swimming Society’s Bantham Swoosh, Ella Foote returned to Bantham to take part in Level Water’s Batham Boomerang and was reminded of the joy that comes from event swimming

“I love swimming here rather than the pool because you can see all the fish,” 10-year-old Hugo squeals as we swim over a huge shoal of silver sprats all while being pushed downstream to Bantham Beach. We have joined the Mini Swoosh, a short swim offered to children and guardians during the wider swimming weekend hosted by Level Water. As we enter the water, we join swimmers who are nearing the end of their traditional 6k Bantham Swoosh swim. We are swimming the day before I embark on my first Bantham Boomerang (an ‘out-and-back’ swim upstream, where you turn and swim or drift back to Bantham when the tide turns) and it was a relief to get into the cool water after a hot wait for the event team to coordinate the safety of our swim.

Go wild, go west: Bantham Mini-Swoosh

I am very familiar with the event and location of the swims here. For many years I enjoyed being a volunteer at this very event when it was organised by the Outdoor Swimming Society (OSS). I never officially took part in the event, although I have often swum parts of the event course with friends, so it felt fitting to be back at Bantham and embarking on the Boomerang, which in itself, is about a return.

After years of being a charity partner for the OSS swimming events, Level Water took on the organisation and legacy of the Bantham Swoosh, continuing the vibrant atmosphere while raising huge amounts of money for the charity to give children with disabilities the opportunity to learn to swim.

Taking on an event that was loved and well-known is no easy job, but Level Water has successfully delivered for the past four years and now I was going to get to experience it first-hand.

Pre-event nerves

No stranger to events, I was largely familiar with how to prepare and plan for the swim and knowing how the event was run in the past, I felt less anxious about the unknowns we face when swimming a distance challenge. However, entering the Boomerang gave it an edge and enough nerves to make me question my choices when the alarm went off early on that sunny Sunday in July.

This year’s event offered ideal conditions and when chatting to Level Water’s CEO Ian Thwaites before the swim, he confessed these conditions are what event organisers across the country dream of. The weather had been hot, dry and calm leading up to the event, which meant water quality was perfect and the biggest concern on the day was sunstroke rather than hypothermia.

The Bantham Boomerang is a brilliant concept. Swimmers plunge in the water off Bantham Beach into the River Avon on an incoming tide and let the strength of the current boost their swimming upstream towards Aveton Gifford until the tide slows, slacks and then turns. Swimmers
then turn too, and continue swimming back downstream towards Bantham finishing exactly where they started. Depending on your swim-speed and/or determination you could swim any distance between 5-10k.

I was nervous, mainly due to lack of training, but also because the training I had done in my local lake was in hot and soupy 26ºC water, while the water temperature here was nearer 17ºC.
I was joined by Outdoor Swimmer’s feature writer Rowan Clarke and she assured me we would be fine. Having her alongside me is always a joy, but entering with her on the incoming whooshing tide was like nothing else. I have never got in the water at an event and had to stop swimming so I could stop to giggle and whoop with other swimmers. The incoming current felt huge.

Swimming was easy and fun. After a short spell of silliness we got into our groove, and I enjoyed the current assistance. I kept waiting for it to drop, but we had a great push for about 3km into the swim. Beneath us fish swam and crabs scuttled. The ancient woodlands that skirted the edge of the water were stunning and when we paused to check in on each other, all other swimmers seemed to do was gush about the beauty of it all.

The tide turns

After about 4km the water felt different, like it was moving in different directions. Water safety tried to steer us back on course as we neared a narrowing passage and I was surprised we had made it that far upstream. A gentle pausing and chatter started in pods of swimmers. “Is the tide turning?” “Shall we turn?” “Are we at the top?” Snacks and gels were pulled from wetsuit sleeves and tow floats, swimmers bobbed and snacked until others ahead turned back towards us indicating we should do the same.

The first kilometre back down felt messy and uncertain, had the tide changed? But once back into the natural course of the river the tide pulled us back down and swimming started to become easy again. Just as I was feeling the chill and worried about fatigue and cramp setting in, I could see the curve of the course towards the finish and the encouraging pink flags – we were nearly there!

It was such a brilliant swim, and I urge you to enter next year. Unlike other distance swims I wasn’t plagued with boredom, or imposter syndrome, I was too busy enjoying myself. There was so much going on the swim happened in a blur and was almost dreamlike. The team behind it made it extra special too. From the moment we arrived, we felt welcomed, supported and championed.

The Level Water team behind these events is among the best. Every single one of them, however tired or hot, offered smiles and kindness, from the roadside team managing vehicles down tight Devon lanes to the person who hauled me out at the end of my swim. This matters because entering an event is about far more than the swim itself: the courage, the cost, the training. The volunteers who lugged bags, poured hot chocolate and wrapped us in towels have my thanks.

This year’s event raised £350,000 for Level Water. To take part in next year’s swim visit levelwater.org

Photos by Freddie Fryer