Marvel-lous morning dip

MORE than 600 people took part in the 16th annual Selkie Henley Classic swim on Sunday.

It was the 16th year of the event, which takes place from dawn and participants swim 2.1km upstream from Temple Island Meadows.

Participants arrived in darkness and walked a quarter of a mile to the start led by a torch carrier in a celebration of midsummer.

Among them were the Thames Marvels, Rebecca Bell, Lee Saudan, Vicky Elson-Smith, Marika Perkins and Liz Hayes, who will be attempting to swim the Channel in relay next week.

Mrs Bell, 56, a soprano singer from Peppard, was taking part for the first time with her son, Henry, 21, who had competed eight times before.

She said: “I was taking it easy and I’m not entirely happy with my time but I’m glad I did it. I had not done it before and it was a wonderful experience.

“The flow was really strong but it didn’t bother me because I’m used to training in open water.

“I’m a strong endurance swimmer but not very good when it comes to speed. I was swimming on my own while I usually swim in a team so it was difficult to keep track of my speed and time.”

Henry said: “I think this time it was harder for everyone because the flow was so strong.

“I first took part in 2013 and I’ve done it so many times I’m so used to it now. It was quite nice to be part of something with my mum and to see her progress so much.”

Mrs Saudan, 54, from Nuffield, won a silver medal in the masters’ category after completing the distance in 56 minutes and 31 seconds.

“I wasn’t expecting to win a medal,” she said. “I didn’t want to push too much because of our challenge next week so winning was really unexpected.

“It was my first time taking part and it was really good fun. We didn’t have a mass start as we would normally do in this kind of event, which I’m really happy about. With a mass start you can get kicked in the face, your goggles fall off and people try to swim on top of you.

“The water temperature was really nice, 18 degrees, and the flow was strong, but we are used to it because of our training.

“The team did really well overall and it was so nice seeing everyone smashing it.

“The main thing for us was not getting injured — we all like to push ourselves but it was important for us to come away in good shape.” Mrs Elson-Smith and Mrs Hayes won bronze medals at masters’ level.  

Mike Wood, 44, from Harpsden Road, Henley, completed the course in one hour, three minutes and 12 seconds. He is a member of the Henley River Rats, four men who are aiming to swim the Bristol Channel for charity next week.

Mr Wood, who also took part in 2019, said: “I was marginally slower this time but I think the flow was different.

“It was a bit chilly and there was some drizzle and there were quite a few people who got pulled out or needed assistance. For us, who regard it as our bread and butter, we get used to the conditions in the open water but it can be a shock to others.

“I’m generally very happy with my time. I thought I had only been in the water for 45 minutes so I was surprised when I looked at my watch. I just ploughed through it.”

Juliet Hume, director of operations at organisers Henley Swim, said: “We’ve had some amazing feedback from everyone who took part. We had 800 people registering for the event but it is normal for some people not to show up on the day, especially that early in the morning.”

In previous years, about 200 people would start the swim at the same time but in order to make the event covid-safe swimmers were set off at different times.

Ms Hume said: “There was one swimmer starting five seconds after another, so that everyone was spaced out throughout the course. We would usually carry their shoes to the finish line but we didn’t do that this time to avoid gatherings.”

The usual safety briefing, which would normally take place in person, was instead recorded and sent to all the participants.

A similar event existed in the 19th century and was revived in 2005 by Tom Kean and Jeremy Laming, founders of Henley Swim.