Mediterranean Dreams

Rowan Clarke tries ‘bookending’ the open water season with a dream swim in Antalya, Türkiye

You may have heard swimmers talk about ‘bookending’ their open water swimming season. It’s a great concept: you travel to warmer climates to swim longer distances earlier and later in the year to extend your open water season. But does it work? And what are the benefits?

Every spring it’s the same – as much as I love the thrill of cold water, I reach a point where I get fed up with brief dips, chilly weather, ice-cream headaches and pool swimming, and start to crave longer swims outdoors.

This year was different. For the first time, I got to travel to Türkiye to swim X-Waters Antalya in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, and I now feel like I’m in on the secret. It wasn’t that I didn’t expect to enjoy this brilliantly organised event – I was incredibly excited for it. But travelling to swim in warmer waters so early in the season and experiencing the buzz, the sheer joy, the lovely people – brought more benefits than I could have anticipated. Turns out, bookending your open water season is a really good thing.

X-Waters Antalya

Now in its second year, X-Waters Antalya is part of an international open-water swimming series founded by Alexandr Bazanov. He wanted to turn impossible swims into life-changing experiences.

Since the first event in Russia in 2016, X-Waters has expanded to include dozens of high-profile races across Europe and Asia in some of the most beautiful locations. The 2026 series starts with Antalya, and includes Belgrade, Montenegro, Slovenia and Thailand.

Organised and hosted by local sport events company, Sedoxy Sports, the Antalya event embodies the X-Waters spirit and ethos. With an inclusive range of race distances from X-Kids 50m to the 5km, athletes of all shapes, sizes and abilities get to enjoy crystal clear, turquoise waters against the stunning backdrop of the Taurus mountains.

It’s worth highlighting the inclusivity of this event because the word ‘race’ can be divisive for outdoor swimmers. Some of us are thrilled and motivated by the idea of racing, chasing times, getting onto the podium. For these swimmers, X-Waters Antalya delivers. There are timing chips or gun starts (depending on the distances and numbers of swimmers), medals to be won, and podium on which to receive them.

I’m the other kind of swimmer, though. As much as I would love to stand on that podium, I’m neither fast nor into racing, so it’s unlikely to happen (my current plan is to outlive the competitive swimmers to win my age group when I’m 90). But X-Waters Antalya is wonderful for swimmers like me, too. In fact, in true outdoor swimming spirit, the person who finished the 1-mile event last got the biggest cheer of all.

Travelling to Türkiye

As I chatted to Sedoxy Sport’s founder Onur Senturk ahead of the event, my excitement about this trip grew. I admit that I had been apprehensive about travelling to Türkiye right now, but Onur’s description of Antalya was enticing: its citrus trees in blossom, its friendliness, history and architecture against the turquoise sea and imposing mountains.

Reading travel blogs, I learned that Antalya, part of the ‘Turkish Riviera’, is one of the friendliest, safest and most welcoming parts of the country for tourists. A major, secure Mediterranean resort hub far from conflict zones, the city has a low crime rate and strong police presence, making it an ideal destination for tourists, families, and solo travellers – including solo women.

This was the Antalya my friend and I experienced. Flying with event partner Corendon Airlines directly from Birmingham and staying at the Grand Park Lara resort, we enjoyed excellent food, amazing massages, beautiful spring sunshine and swimming in the Med from the hotel’s private beach – the most relaxing and luxurious ‘tapering’ imaginable.

After our swim, we explored Kaleiçi, Antalya’s historic old town. Walking through Hadrian’s Gate, the ruins of a magnificent Roman arch built in 130 AD, there’s a charming, pedestrian-friendly district of narrow cobblestone streets, Ottoman-era houses, boutiques, restaurants, and a 2,000-year-old harbour.

The swim

West of the city centre, the race village was at Konyaaltı Beach Park. This is the city beach of dreams – kilometres of pristine, blue-flag, shingle beach sloping gently into crystal-clear water against the stunning backdrop of the Taurus Mountains. It’s super accessible, with cafés, restaurants, water sports and activities in the park behind the beach.

After registration and a race briefing on the Friday evening, we wandered through the park where locals of all ages were cycling, picnicking, and playing sports, soaking up the relaxed weekend atmosphere.

On Saturday morning, we got a taxi back to the race village, where we changed and dropped our bags. Overseen by the Turkish swimming association, there are quite strict rules to ensure swimmers’ safety and comfort – tow floats provided by Orca for every swimmer, no jewellery or watches that might scratch another swimmer – even our nail length was checked, and nail files provided!

The 1-mile race was the most popular, with two waves of between 100 and 150 swimmers in each. Swimming skins, we joined the back of the second wave, and apart from a bit of bunching around the first buoy, we had plenty of space.

The water was beautiful. At 21-22°C, it was crystal clear, turquoise nearer the shore, and becoming a deep indigo as we swam above a depth of around 25m. We swam out to sea, before turning left and swimming parallel to the shore. At buoy three, we turned left again to swim alongside the cliffs with the city high above us. Passing craggy outcrops, sea caves and grottos, we passed through surprisingly chilly patches – Onur later told us that there are springs that emerge under the rocks.

After the swim, we were treated to fresh fruit and massages. We then went back into the event village to relax, refuel, and hang out with wonderful, like-minded swimmers from all over the world, before cheering on the X-Kids races.

I loved this event. It wasn’t only that it fulfilled my yearning for a proper sea swim after a winter of dipping, but it also felt like a really special, exciting way to kick off my open water swimming season. It boosted my confidence and enhanced my mood –the post-swim high was unreal, and I’ll be heading into my next challenge feeling much more self-assured.

This might not be news for those of you who are au fait with extending your open water swimming season by travelling abroad. But for those of you who haven’t yet travelled to warmer climates for an early season swim, I urge you try it. And I urge you to try Antalya– I’m more than a little bit smitten with this beautiful place.

Registration for X-Waters Antalya 2027 is open now. May 8-9 – 500m, 1 mile, 4k or 8k