The Longest Swim on the Longest Day

With swimming in the great outdoors having grown exponentially in the past 12 months of lockdown, The Outdoor Swimming Society has launched the inaugural ‘Longest Swim on the Longest Day’ virtual swim, attracting swimmers from all over the world.

Taking place on or around June 21st, the virtual global event will welcome swimmers from California to Cornwall and from Belgium to Belfast. Any stroke, any distance, any age; all are welcome! The swim itself can be anything people fancy: an endurance feat in their local open water lake, a downstream river swim, a sea swim, a crossing, a swim safari (multiple dips on the one day). It can be 500m or 10k; breaststroke or butterfly. Further information, along with tips for safe swimming and training plans are available from the official event page https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/the-longest-swim/  

The key is to take some time off for your swimming, celebrate the start of summer and share it with others. Kate Rew, founder of The Outdoor Swimming Society comments: “We are expecting to see a wide range of swims, from 100 to 10,000m, in rivers, lakes, lidos and sea, in one big Northern Hemisphere celebration of midsummer! We might still be apart, but we're together in spirit. Please join us to celebrate.” 

Supported by Red Original

“We are delighted to be involved with the Longest Swim. Like many people over the last year we have been turning to the water to escape and re-energise and see this as a great celebration of embracing the natural swimming pool which surrounds us. As a team we are looking forward to getting immersed on the day and have some exciting things planned to help encourage the wider community to join us as well.” Luke Green - Head of Marketing.

The Red Original team will be getting involved on the day with a team swim near the offices in Devon. We'll be doing some fun team races and are excited to see what everyone gets up to around the globe. We will also be offering up some prizes for those who get involved, details to be announced by The Outdoor Swimming Society. 

The Outdoor Swimming Society (OSS) was established in 2006 to pioneer outdoor swimming in rivers, lakes, lidos and seas. Staying true to its renegade and maverick roots, it has remained a volunteer run society that has never charged for membership.

The Longest Swim will be raising funds for The Outdoor Swimming Society and Project Seagrass. One supporting peoples’ swimming dreams; the other helping preserve our watery planet.

How to enter?  

Entry costs £15 for adults (18+), £2.50 for children (under 18) and £0 if you are broke. Adult ticket holders will receive a number of benefits along with a commemorative [cloth] badge and child swimmers will receive a patch and access to the Longest Swim Logbook, which will help to plot the miles being swum around the world. To see a full list and how to enter visit Longest Day event page 

What to wear? 

Waters in the northern hemisphere are still warming up, so be careful when you come out of the water, to help your body warm up so you don’t go into ‘After Drop’. Have a hot drink and wrap up in something that will get you warm, dry and out of any winds/ inclement weather. We recommend our Waterproof Pro Change Robe as an ideal solution for getting dry, warming up and keeping covered from the elements. Available in a variety of colours for kids and adults. https://redoriginal.com/collections/changing

What to wear?

Waters in the northern hemisphere are still warming up, so be careful when you come out of the water, to help your body warm up so you don’t go into ‘After Drop’. Have a hot drink and wrap up in something that will get you warm, dry and out of any winds/ inclement weather. We recommend our Waterproof Pro Change Robe as an ideal solution for getting dry, warming up and keeping covered from the elements. Available in a variety of colours for kids and adults. https://redoriginal.com/collections/changing