Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving the South East of England.

They locate, collect, preserve, provide access to and promote screen material related to the South East and of general relevance to screen history.

David Sawyers, whose great great grandfather started The Brighton Swimming Club 150 years ago is disabled by arthritis whilst on land. This film on “Against the Tide” is a testament to all that the sea brings to his mind, body and spirit. Told entirely from the sea this story reconnects us with the importance of sea-swimming. Shot in Brighton by film maker Kat Mansoor (click for interview).

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE »» Old Man in the Sea – East Dorset Open Water Swimming Club: .)

Well off I went yesterday, it was a tough day where winds picked up to 17 knots which had not been predicted.

After 9 hours 58 mins I became the first British female to Conquer the Cook Strait!

I feel very proud, my support crew were amazing, my arms ache and I will write up my swim in a few days time as now I have to go and pay my fees for the swim, have a nice relaxing lunch, meet a few people and then head out of Wellington-this time for good (well for this trip anyway)!

We are heading upto Auckland, it will take a couple of day to get there and we are all going to enjoy the last few days and my first few days to relax without thinking about swimming or training! Bliss! We may head back into the water though with a scuba dive!

Thank you to all of you who have sent kind messages before, during and after my swim. It has been great support and lovely to hear from you all.

Emily’s journey to the Cook Strait.

“ Daniil Serebrennikov and Nadine Pastor of German upset their more famous elite competitors in the 1-mile British Gas Great North Swim yesterday under sunny skies and in 17°C water in Lake Windermere this weekend. Olympian and race commentator Steve Parry reports, ‘The elite races demonstrated the importance of tactics for both the men’s and women’s events.’

‘In the women’s race, 10K world champion Keri-Anne Payne took an early lead until the 1.200K mark while followed by a chasing pack with Germany’s Steffi Biller and Nadine Pastor and the Russian Olympic gold medalist Larisa Ilchenko. At this point, the physicality of the sport really came into the full view with leg and elbow kicks coming into quick exchange.’

‘Nadine broke free of the chasing pack and used the calm water to her full advantage, while Katy chose to take a different route than the group as she gained valuable yards. Nadine was the clear winner, but you could have thrown a coin over second, third and fourth. Great Britain’s Katy Whitfield finished second with the Larisa in third and Keri-Anne in fourth.’

The first half of men’s race was led by long-distance specialist Alexander Studzinski of Germany who built up a ten-meter gap between him and the chase pack.

Steve summarizes, ‘It looked like an impossibility that Alexander was ever going to lose, but Daniil Serebrennikov of Russia swam the perfect race and timed his move flawlessly, pushing ahead for just one [last] metre of the race to give Daniil his second victory in the British Gas Great Swim four-part series. Much to the delight of the home crowd, British junior swimmer Tom Allen finished hin third.’

But, more importantly, 6,000 other swimmers entered the event with the world-class swimmers in only the second year of the event.

‘The Great Swim brand has created a series of events for people to get excited about,’ said Steve. ‘My personal hope is that these mass participation open water swimming events will one day be just as popular and successful as their Great Run counterparts.’

Elite Women’s Results:
1. Nadine Pastor (GER) 18.14
2. Katy Whitfield (GBR) 18.15
3. Larisa Ilchenko (RUS) 18.16

Elite Men’s Results:
1. Daniil Serebrennikov (RUS) 16.23
2. Alexander Studzinski (GER) 16.23
3. Tom Allen (GBR) 16.26

The event will be televised in Great Britain in the fall on Channel 4.

“

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> The Daily News of Open Water Swimming Winning In Windermere: .)

(Via The Daily News of Open Water Swimming Winning In Windermere: .)

“ Entries are open for the GreatBig OpenWaterSwim at Dorney Lake near Windsor.

Dorney Lake is ideal for open water swimming and will be the rowing venue for the 2012 London Olympics and the Paralymic Games 2012.

Plus, the goodie bags are rumored to be cool…swim fast and get your’s.

“

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> The Daily News of Open Water Swimming GreatBig OpenWaterSwim Goodie Bag: .)

“A temporary open-air swimming pool on the South Bank has been opened on the South Bank by Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington.”

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> Open-air South Bank swimming pool unveiled by Boris Johnson and Rebecca Adlington [4 August 2009]: .)

“ On August 24th, brothers Mark and Richard Walsh will embark on a 135-mile 5-day stage swim, the River Thames Swim Challenge, to raise money for Leukaemia Research and in memory of Dave Hicks.

Photo is from the duo’s 2007 50-mile Lake District Long Distance Swim Challenge.

“

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> The Daily News of Open Water Swimming Brotherly Challenge In The River Thames: .)

“

Readers tuning in hoping for a picture of me bathing in Brixham Harbour will, I’m afraid, be sadly disappointed.

I think all right minded people would agree that bathing in Brixham Harbour should be severely frowned upon. But it is the illegality of the ‘attempted bathing’ that presents one of the great moral issues of our time. One imagines that such bathing attempts might fail for various reasons – ill fitting bathing costume, inability to find a suitable locker for valuables, the presence of green slime that only became apparent upon scaling the harbour wall, etc.

My travelling companion was vehement that such attempts should be outlawed in the same way that waving a gun around in a bank is not really the done thing. But I am of the school of thought that says that failed bathing attempts should be allowed for the amusement of the general public, as long as they do not pass that thin line between ‘attempted bathing’ and ‘bathing’.

What do you think? I have added a poll (left) in order to test the mind of the international community on this matter.

“

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> The Cartoon Blog Holiday photograph 2: Bathing in Brixham Harbour: .)

“ FAST (Fairbanks Arctic Swim Team) Masters organized the first open water race in Chena Lake in North Pole, Alaska. Outside of Fairbanks, the water was a reasonable 65˚F for the 1K and 5K swims, although wetsuits were optional.

Local swimmer Dave Schmidt told US Masters Swimming, ‘Your body will know how to swim once you are there, but you have to be ready, mentally, for the challenge [of swimming in cold water]. If you are afraid of creepy crawlies or the cold water, find a swim in warm and clear water. There is nothing better than a clear swim.’

Photo by Eric Engman.

“

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> The Daily News of Open Water Swimming Swimming FAST In The North Pole: .)

“There is even good news for the more curvaceous among us. The studies are small, admittedly, but it appears that the more fat one has, the more insulated one is against the effects of cold water. I suspect, though, that the polar swimmer Lewis Pugh would not be impressed. Pugh, who was profiled in The Lancet in 2005, has trained in water cooled to 2°C in preparation for Arctic and Antarctic swims. The result is that he has apparently developed additional physiological resistance to extreme cold. While there is data on how wetsuits and swimsuits can help to protect one from the moderate cold, Pugh swims in nothing more than a pair of trunks.”

(Via FT.com / Weekend / Pursuits – In praise of wild swimming: .)

Given that people are considering allowing a version of these “condoms crossed with a corset” to be used in this year’s channel race this is a topical read.

“The suits, developed in part by Nasa scientists, improve performance by exerting ‘powerful compression’ on the body to reduce friction. In other words, they squeeze out of the way any lumps or bumps that might impede your progress. That sounds uncomfortable enough, but there are also panels located at strategic points on the suit to deliver ‘optimum drag reduction’. Then there is a corset-style arrangement compressing the lower back, lower abdomen and groin area to help maintain that area in the optimum position for speedy propulsion.
Thus equipped, Foster last year swam under 22 seconds for 50 metres, lowering the British record to 21.96 sec, not bad for a swimmer in his 39th year wearing a combination of all-body condom and corset.”

(Via Mark Foster so at home in his ’second skin’ – Telegraph: .)