8am to 10am - Swimmer arrival
Try and arrive on time and with your team. We can’t guarantee any space so arrive early to give yourself plenty of time to set up.

11:45am - All swimmer briefing with first swimmer ready to swim. We’ll send you all the briefing beforehand to have a read.

Midday Saturday - First swimmer enters the water. And so it begins.

Midday Sunday - Last swimmer exits the water. And so it ends.

Shepperton Open Water Swim

Ferry Ln, Shepperton TW17 9LH

Aim to get to the venue no later than 10am. We want to try and make this event as environmentally friendly as possible, so the more people we have car sharing the better.

It will make the event more enjoyable for everyone, you’ll meet new friends and be doing your bit for the planet.

The best place to find a car sharing buddy is to post it in the events Facebook page.

When you arrive, please head to the registration desk to register.

You can only register yourself so everyone will need to register.

You’ll be given a swimming hat you must wear while swimming and one wristband per team.

The wristband is to be worn by the person swimming and no one else. You’ll swap it over every hour.

This one is really important. Please please stick to these rules otherwise you will be upsetting other swimmers and taking away precious space.

For teams of 1-4, you must not bring a tent that is bigger than a 4-man tent. If is a 4 man tent you can only have one per team.

If you have a team of 5 to 8, you can have one bigger tent per team.

We will allow two smaller, 2 or 3 man tents.

Please do not bring along additional gazebos or other things as there is simply not enough space. It’s not fair on other teams so please be considerate to everyone and pack light and share kit where possible.

For safety reasons, the 24 hours is split into hourly stints. This is so we can easily keep track of who is in and out of the water.

It’ll run a little bit like this:

1. The first swimmer will enter the water at midday.

2. At 12:50, we will stop swimmers starting a new lap and you’ll exit the water.

3. When you get to land, find your team mate and give them your swimmers wrist band (Which we’ll give one per team at registration)

4. When the last swimmer of the first stint has rounded the first buoy, we’ll let the next wave a swimmers start.

5. Repeat or the next 23 hours.

So, just make sure your next swimmer is ready and at the water entry point at 50 minutes past the hour, every hour and you’ll be golden.

You will be allowed to swim for more than one hour at a time, but we ask you to check out and back in again for safety reasons.

If someone in your team is injured and pulls out prior to the event, please let me know their name so I can remove them from the list. New members can join by registering through the website. Team members can join you later in the day but they must register beforehand and read the briefing when they arrive. But please have most of your team arrive no later than 10am and join the briefing at 11:45am.

This is the strictest we’ll be. Absolutely no open fires anywhere (other than our communal fire pit)

Gas stoves will be allowed but please, not in tents and keep a close eye on them.

Also, quite a strict rule here. I promise we’re actually quite laid back. These are very important and without them you will not be allowed in the water during the night. And we will be very strict about it.

You MUST have two lights on you when you swim at night. One white one attached to your goggles and a different colour in your tow float. This is so the safety team can see where you are in the water and which direction you are swimming. You only need one set per team.

They must be static, not flashing lights.

Feel free to invite your family and friends to support you during the day - but as soon as the sun sets we ask that all non-swimmers toddle off for the night. They are more than welcome back at sunrise.

We’re trying to run this event with as little waste as possible which means we will not be providing food or drink. Please bring your own food and drink for the duration and take away all your rubbish at the end. You can bring small gas stoves to cook on and we’ll have a couple of hot water urns, but please bring your own mug.

Personally, I'd bring a few of those boil in the bag packets that just need hot water. And flapjacks. Always flapjacks.

You will be swimming at night which means it will be dark. That’s what makes this event so challenging and exciting. The buoys on the water will be lit up to help you spot where to go, and there will be water support kayaks on the water at all times for the 24 hours covering the 400m loop. We suggest giving a night time swim a go before the weekend if you can.

Wetsuits are not compulsory during the day but please bring one with you as backup. If you want to swim in skins at night, please fill in the skins swimmer form above.

Swimming at night for long periods is very different to swimming during the day and you will get much colder.

Let’s be honest, this is likely. And there’s very little we can do about it. We want you to feel part of nature this weekend so if it rains a lot be prepared to hide in tents and cars and under umbrellas.

We’ll make the decision to suspend swimming for high winds, heavy rain, or thunderstorms on the day. And our decision is final.

We will be using the ‘leave-no-trace’ mantra for all our sites so please take your rubbish and recycling home with you. There won’t be enough bins for us all so do your bit and take it home.

Please be considerate when hanging out near the camping area, it goes without saying that some swimmers may be having a little snooze and any lights or noise could be detrimental to their slumber. We will be doing our best to keep music and lights to a minimum while we swim through the night.

We will have a medical team on standby at all times so PLEASE tell them if you are at all concerned about your health or feel strange at any time. Our volunteers can point you in the right direction and we promise to cover you with blankets and cuddles if you feel cold. Keeping everyone safe is our top-priority in, and out of the water.

Also, learn how to identify coldness in others. Are they quieter than usual, or more tired. If you have any concerns speak to them and the medical team immediately.