OPEN water swimming in the Lake District shows no sign of cooling down after 500 took to the 17 degrees celsius water of Coniston at the weekend.
This year’s Coniston Chillswim attracted double the number of entries and just seven swimmers pulled out when the 5.2 mile-long course proved a breaststroke too far.
Chillswim organiser Colin Hill, based at High Wray, said it was ‘amazing’ to have double the amount enter this year.
Mr Hill said: “The event actually filled up with a waiting list six months before the swim was set to take place.”
The winners in the wetsuit category were Dan Abel from New Zealand in 2hrs 7 mins and the first female was Nancy Shaw from London in 2hrs 13m.
In the non-wetsuit class, the first male was Dion Harrison of West Yorkshire in 1hr 58m and 10 seconds, and first female was Lisa Jones, Cheltenham, two hours and nine minutes.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here