The Arun: a perfect open water challenge for first timers

In September, digital editor Abi Whyte swam four miles in the River Arun with spinal cord charity Aspire. A newbie to front crawl, here’s how she got on on this beautiful swim through rural West Sussex.  

I started working as digital editor for Outdoor Swimmer in August 2022. Prior to this, my experience as an outdoor swimmer was more of the dipping kind, and usually within the summer months. Joining a team of swimmers who it do all year round and take part in all sorts of challenges was intimidating to say the least. 

The thing is, the more I settled into my role, the more I found the idea of open water events rather tantalising. I started to wonder what the fuss was all about. 

When Simon Griffiths, the magazine’s founder, mentioned the River Arun Swim to me, it sounded like an ideal open water challenge for first timers like myself. Organised by SwimQuest in aid of spinal injury charity Aspire, the challenge is a 4-mile (6.5km) swim along the River Arun in West Sussex with a group of up to 20 swimmers. It is a tidally assisted swim, which means it feels much easier than swimming the same distance in a lake or pool. 

While a tidally-assisted swim sounded appealing (and it’s near Arundel, which I’d always wanted to visit), I was daunted by the distance and the fact that I only knew how to do breaststroke. Slowly! Anyway, I signed up knowing I had nine months to prepare, including learning a stroke I’d had my sights on for a while… front crawl! 

Getting the hang of front crawl 

I began my training in the pool in January, usually twice a week, occasionally three if I could fit it in. First I worked on my front crawl breathing, starting with unilateral breathing, then managing to do bilateral breathing without feeling puffed out.  

Training went smoothly… for a while! A glute injury during a 10km mud run set things back, making it a struggle to swim in a straight line. I persevered with the swimming, doing stretches and Pilates exercises when I could to help the injury. This plus regular massages definitely helped, bit I still felt niggles from time to time.  

As temperatures warmed I took my training into a local lake and began working on my sighting, and practised swimming in a wetsuit (which is an option for the Arun swim). My front crawl began to feel more streamlined as I focused on being more horizontal in the water and engaging my core. However as the big swim approached, I think I might have overdone it or got my technique wrong, because my right shoulder started to feel sore.  

Two weeks before the swim I eased back on my training to give my shoulder a rest, alternating between breaststroke, backstroke and front crawl when I was in the pool, and doing a run here and there to keep my stamina up. I felt the nerves set in as the big day approached, worried how my shoulder would fare during the 4-mile swim.  

A scenic start 

Before I knew it, event day was here! I fuelled myself with porridge and bananas; nervous but raring to go. Reps from Aspire and Swimquest took myself and the other Arun challengers to the start of the swim at the jetty of The Black Rabbit pub, not far from Arundel’s beautiful wetland reserve.  

Eleven swimmers in total, we were placed in groups according to how fast we can swim, and given colour-coded swim caps. It takes me 28 minutes to swim 1km, so I was put in the middle group. The ‘not-so-fast’ group began first, then my ‘sort-of-fast’ group next, followed lastly by the ‘fast’ group.  

The swim guides and support crew were all set to follow alongside us in canoes and kayaks, armed with bottles of water and jelly babies to keep us going. 

The start of the swim was as relaxed as can possibly be for a swimming event; each of us getting in the water at our own pace, our minds ‘in the zone’ for the swim ahead.  

We got in the water at 3pm, perfectly timed with the rising tide on the Arun. The tidal flow of the river upstream felt fast and helpful, boosting my confidence that I could definitely do this. Strangely, while the flow of the tide was upstream, leaves and other debris were still carried on the current downstream. This made for interesting stretches, navigating clumps of twigs and extracting seaweed from my tow float! 

Watchful guides 

All in all it was a beautiful swim, passing reeded banks and Sussex woodland, under stone bridges and cloud-heavy skies. Owing to how spread out we were along the river, I felt that it was very much my own swim, at my own pace, yet I knew I was in constant view of the support crew, ready to pass me a jelly baby when I felt the need for it.  

My shoulder felt surprisingly fine, even in the final stretch, and I was glad of the wetsuit because I began to feel the cold towards the end. I was undeniably exhausted when I got to the finish point; even feeling a wave of nausea as I transitioned from the water to dry land. I was handed a bottle of water and soon felt fine again after a little rest.  

From the riverbank it was then a short plod to a nearby country pub – my pre-ordered dinner and pint of ale a tantalising mirage in the distance. I don’t think a pint has ever gone down so well.  

Want to do the Arun Swim next year? 

The next River Arun Swim with Aspire takes place September 2025 (date tbc). It is a 4-mile tidally assisted swim that takes roughly two hours to complete. Each entrant receives a swim cap and pre-swim hot drinks. The registration fee is £25, plus a fundraising target of £250. All proceeds go to Aspire – a charity that supports people with Spinal Cord Injury to live full, independent lives. Find out more at aspire.org.uk