A couple of years ago I didn’t know swimrun existed.
My background was as a leisure runner—running a few times a week for fitness, taking on the occasional half marathon to focus my training. I could swim and loved the sea, but found front crawl difficult and rarely went to the pool.
In 2023 Söuthsea Swimrun (SöS) founder Vini happened to join my place of work and told me about a strange sport that combines running (in your swimsuit!) with swimming (in your trainers!). It didn’t sound like it was for me, but when I strained my knee the following winter I had to stop running and was forced to swim to exercise. Over time my skills improved—watching YouTube for tips, and building slowly to a point where I could swim 1km in the pool. I began to see that this swimrun thing might be fun.
I joined SöS in the autumn of 2024, after the sea-swimming season had ended, and decided early on to commit to attending Studland the following June to give my training some focus. It seemed perfect—a local(ish) event with a sprint course aimed at beginners, and where I knew there would be some friendly Portsmouth faces.
Attending a couple of SöS social events and getting to know how welcoming and inclusive the group are was a real plus. I received loads of helpful advice about gear from the more experienced members, and even borrowed things to try whilst I worked out what I needed and what I didn’t. As my knee got better, I also joined the legendary Wednesday interval sessions to helped build my overall fitness.
I joined the first in-sea session at the start of May. The water temperature was challenging, but the support from other members was fantastic and I began to get the hang of transitions and gear practicalities. From the last few weeks of prep, I worked on building my confidence in the sea and learning how to use paddles and a pull buoy.
There was lots of chat on the club WhatsApp groups in the run up to Studland and, in the end, over a dozen members headed over to Dorset to take part in the short, medium and long courses as solos or pairs.
The weather on the day was perfect—sunny, dry, not-too-hot, and with low wind and negligible waves. The atmosphere at the race HQ was relaxed and friendly and the SöS crew were able to register and get ready in plenty of time before the first race. The races were staggered, with the long course going off first, followed by the middle, and finally the short course. I joined the rest in cheering earlier groups as they set off until it was time to head to the starting line with my fellow short coursers.
I knew the race was going to be a physical challenge—the 2k swimming over three legs was more than I’d attempted in the sea before—and I was nervous about sharing the water with so many others. In fact, having other, faster, swimmers in the sea made things easier. It reduced my need to do sighting as there was a crowd to follow even when the exit points were hard to spot. Even with 100 participants, the sea and paths never felt crowded and there was a lot of mutual support. My practising with the gear paid off as I was confident in the transitions and comfortable on the runs. The final swim was the longest of the day at 800m, and the last 400m of it felt endless—the shore seeming to move further away with every stroke. Eventually I reached the beach and a final 200m run through soft, energy-sapping sand before the finishing line, a medal, and a much-needed piece of flapjack.
In the immediate aftermath of the race, I felt disappointed at how hard I had found the swimming sections. Standing at the finish, cheering some of the SöS medium and long course participants over the line and chatting to other members I began to recover my perspective. I realised I was proud to have taken on and completed an event that would have been impossible for me the previous year. The club support had helped me do that. And although I’d found it hard, I’d even exceeded my race goal by finishing in the top half of the women’s short course.
By the time the celebratory team lunch and photo session ended a couple of hours later I could even begin to imagine taking on another event.
I’m now booked to race again in September. And I’m looking forward to it.
Geraldine, swimrunner