Brighton Triple Crown: Event Review 2025

Iconic location, great atmosphere and, in 2025, tough conditions

Brighton Triple Crown. End of September 2025. A bright but breezy day. The tide is coming in, which means there’s a current moving from west to east. The wind is blowing from the east. Waves are rolling in from the English Channel to the south. These conditions produce chaotic water and challenging swimming conditions.

But we swam anyway. First, a 5km swim, two laps of the 2.5km rectangular course. After a short break, we re-entered the water for a 2.5km swim, then, with what seemed like hardly any rest at all, we went in for a final time for a 750m dash.

The event – jointly organised by Sea Lanes and Brighton Triathlon Club – had already been postponed from July. My first reaction, after an early drive down to Brighton, was relief that the rescheduled swim would go ahead. And while we could see it was a bit choppy in the sea, it didn’t look too bad.

Worse than it looks

But what looks OK from the beach, with the sun glistening and glittering, feels very different when you hit the water.

Brighton can throw a lot of different water conditions at you. I’ve done this event in previous years when the water was perfectly calm, and others when we had bigger waves rolling in than we did this year. That’s part of the joy and thrill of open water swimming. But I think what we had this year was the most difficult for swimming I’ve experienced – or maybe I’m just getting old.

The event is expertly lifeguarded by the brilliant local beach lifeguard team who expertly handle their surf rescue boards in all manner of conditions. I never felt in the slightest unsafe.

Still, the challenging conditions took their toll. I felt queasy at times and some swimmers were sick. A handful of swimmers decided it wasn’t their day and pulled out. The hardest part was going past the finish arch after a lap, knowing I had to do it all again.

But, despite the occasional negative thought, I enjoyed the challenge of swimming in tough conditions and experimenting with changes in my stroke timing to see what worked best, or if changing anything made any discernible difference.

Great concept

I love the Triple Crown concept (even though I had my moments while I was in the middle of it). Doing three races in one day adds complexity to the challenge. Not only do you need to pace your effort on each swim, but you also have to think about the next one. How do you re-warm and re-fuel? Do you change wetsuit (or costume if you’re not in neoprene)? Should you keep moving or lie down?

For some participants, going back in for the second and third swims required a massive effort of will – feeling cold, seasick and battered tends to do that to you. Luckily, the land-based volunteers were super supportive and encouraging. They made sure we could warm up between swims and had a good range of snacks and hot drinks.

New location

Basing the event at Sea Lanes was a masterstroke – especially for the Triple Crown VIP swimmers. In previous years, the swims have been at various locations along Brighton Beach. Many years ago, we had three point-to-point swims rather than circuits, which was fun for participants but added logistical headaches for the organisers.

While I like the experience of starting in one place and finishing in another, having looped courses in front of Sea Lanes simplified everything. Triple Crown swimmers had the additional luxury of being able to use Sea Lanes’ changing facilities.

We also had an exclusive “VIP” tent with hot drinks and snacks – but due to the churning we experienced in the sea, we were unable to take full advantage.

Choice of distance

There were only limited spaces in the Triple Crown and they sold out quickly. Keep an eye on the Sea Lanes website or the Outdoor Swimmer event listings to find out when next year’s event will be.

Alternatively, you can enter any of the distances individually.

A second perspective

Lucy Young finished second in the women’s Triple Crown, despite struggling with the conditions and the cold

To me, it felt like swimming in a washing machine. The waves out to the first turn buoy, right at the start, made you realise what you were letting yourself in for. I definitely had to tell myself to stay calm, and I used the buildings on the beach to reassure myself that I was making progress. In fact, I did find the close proximity of the shore very reassuring, especially when my hands stopped functioning due to the cold. I was really amazed that I was still making progress with my fingers flapping around, and when I was clawing my way through the water.

It was hard to sight if you were looking for the buoys, and the yellow town markers were pretty small. Simon definitely had a better plan to use the fixed landmarks on the pier and the marina. I used that approach in the 2.5 swim, and it helped. I still struggled to swim parallel to the pier after the first turn as the current threw me off course. I should have kept aiming for the end of the pier once I had turned, but it was hard to gauge how strong the current was when you were swimming across it. I was glad the organisers responded to feedback after the 5K swim and placed extra marker buoys at the turns as it gave reassurance that I was swimming in the right direction.

The stones on Brighton beach have left my feet a bit battered and bruised, despite the matting. The beach start and finish are a feature of this event. 

I like the atmosphere of this event. The volunteers were lovely and I was very glad of their helping hands as I was crawling out of the sea. It was nice to regroup on the beach afterwards in the sunshine, and my old-school style finisher badges are still in view on a window shelf as an understated reminder that I completed the challenge.