The Henley Mile 2017

Open water swimming fans have several opportunities for exciting, challenging, stunning events on the River Thames at Henley.

The original Henley Swim first started back in 2004 when two of the organisers, Tom Kean and Jeremy Laming, decided their backs had finally had enough of rowing and that it might be nice to swim the Henley Royal Regatta course. So they could do this safely and without disrupting the rowing community at a busy time of the year, dawn was decided as the best time of day to do it.

Once they got over the shock of first light being 0400, the swim was unlike any they had done before. Thanks partly to some amazing photos and lots of talking, the following year a group of approximately 20 people assembled to do the swim at the same time. Year-on-year the swim continued to grow until the numbers became so great that ‘something’ had to be done; and so in 2008 it became ‘official’. Now known as The Henley Classic, this unique event attracts competitors from all over the world, and a number of world class athletes regularly compete.

In 2011, Tom and Jeremy expanded their range of swims to include The Henley Mile, The Thames Marathon and The Club to Pub.

For more information, including how to sign up, go to http://henleyswim.com/events/