“ 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: .)

“Swimmers at a council pool have been banned from swimming lengths for health and safety reasons.

They have been told they may only swim widths of the pool as it makes it easier for lifeguards to ensure their safety.

Infuriated regular swimmers say the new rules are a clear indication that Britain is gripped by ‘health and safety insanity.’

The move was introduced at Dagenham Swimming Pool in Essex which has been popular with all age ranges since it was opened in the 1960s.

Bosses at the pool say it is easier for lifeguards to keep an eye on people if they are swimming widths rather than lengths.

But Dean Bradford, 33, who has used the pool for more than 20 years, said the ban of swimming lengths was a farce and would impact on young and old alike.

He said: ‘A lot of elderly people swim lengths of the pool to maintain their stamina and health and young people swim lengths to become better swimmers.”

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> Now elf ‘n’ safety chiefs ban swimmers from doing lengths | Mail Online: .)

“ 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: .)

“A business plan to save a town’s swimming pool from closure has been supported by councillors.

Gwynedd Council had wanted to close Harlech pool to save money, but local people submitted a business plan to run it with a community trust.

The Friends of Harlech swimming pool want to invest in a climbing wall and cafe to attract more paying customers.

If their plans had been rejected the council would have closed the pool at the end of July.”

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> BBC NEWS | Wales | North West Wales | Trust given go-ahead to run pool: .)

“Magdalena Kwiatkowska is absolutely certain her thirteen-year-old daughter is pregnant because of wayward sperm wafting about in the currents of an Egyptian hotel’s swimming pool. She is so certain, in fact, that her daughter’s delicate condition is due to “something in the water” that she is suing the hotel where she and her family, including the teenager, recently spent several weeks on vacation.”

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> Mom claims teen impregnated by stray sperm in swimming pool: .)

“A business plan to save a town’s swimming pool from closure is to be discussed by councillors.

Gwynedd council wants to close Harlech pool to save money, but local people have submitted a business plan to run it with a community trust.

The Friends of Harlech swimming pool say they want to invest in a climbing wall and cafe to attract more paying customers.”

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> BBC NEWS | Wales | North West Wales | Decision looms on swimming pool: .)

Hackney Lido seems set remain the preserve of the (predominantly white) middle classes and bring few to an emerging future generation of swimmers as it has been exempted from the Free Swimming for under 16s scheme on the basis that “it would be too popular with young people”. This allows staffing levels to be kept low.

A Hackney swimmer commented elsewhere that the Lido was, “Just fine for middle-aged, middle-class people in expensive wetsuits who believe that a heated pool without a roof and the great unwashed in their bermudas or bikinis (who after all only paid for the thing with their taxes) is Outdoor Swimming in the raw.”

“It struck me, ploughing up and down in my eccentric, yet effective freestyle, that the lido, patronised almost exclusively by the middle class (it’s easy to tell, even in these so-called classless times, even without clothes) is an excellent advertisement for a range of middle-class virtues commonly thought to have gone out of fashion.”

(CLICK ON -> The lido rage that simmers under the surface | Robert Crampton – Times Online: .)

“Explore the Secret Coves and Wild Beaches of Britain. Wild Swimming Coast, a new wild swimming book by Daniel Start was recently published and is now available for £14.95.

In this sequel you can discover and enjoy over 400 magical swims and adventures along some of the least explored parts of Britain’s stunning coast.”

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> openwaterswimming.eu aggregator East Dorset Open Water Swimming club: Wild Swimming Coast: .)

It has been said that …

“Plans for a £20m leisure centre in Heston, Hounslow, have been shelved as a result of the uncertain economic climate.”

(CLICK HERE FOR MORE -> Leisure Opportunities News Recession cancels Heston pool plans: .)