Dart10k FAQs
Below you will find answers to all of your burning questions about the Dart10k. From start time and locations, training and wetsuit advice to parking and accommodation advice.
If you’ve taken part in the Dart10k previously, please be aware that it’s a different finishing location than before. The swim will now finish on the other side of the river on the National Trust site at Greenway.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can email swim@levelwater.org
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The Dart10k starts from the beautiful town of Totnes at Longmarsh (Steamer Quay Road, Totnes TQ9 5AL) and follows the same iconic route it always has. The event finishes at Galmpton Creek on the National Trust site at Greenway.
The Finish at Greenway
Thank you to the National Trust for generously supporting us and kindly letting us use their land at Lower Greenway Farm.
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Swimmers will enter the water around 11am on Saturday and midday on Sunday at slack water (exact timings coming soon).
You need check in at the start to get your hand numbered and collect your swim hat before the swim, so please arrive at least 2 hours before the event start time.
If you are parking at Greenway please make sure you allow plenty of time to do so and make it onto the shuttle bus to the start. Shuttle buses depart around TBC.
If you are parking in Totnes you’ll need to arrive at Longmarsh by TBC.
Traffic in the area will be heavier than normal so please factor in additional travel time.
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Swimmers need to be 18+
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At the start in Totnes there’s plenty of space for supporters to come and see you off. However, they cannot park at the start and will need to find somewhere in town to park.
If they are then driving to the finish to meet you, you MUST purchase them a parking ticket for the finish. Spaces are limited and if they don’t have a Greenway parking ticket they will be turned away. Parking tickets will be available to purchase in the spring.
If a spectator doesn’t have a Greenway parking ticket and would like to meet you at the finish they can park in Totnes and get a spectator coach to meet you at Greenway.
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In our opinion, the most amazing way to experience the Dart10k is by getting a train down to Totnes and staying in the town. Having a car free weekend takes all the pressure off you and we can easily ship you around on the many shuttle buses available.
The roads are small and tight and traffic can easily build up. By getting the train and shuttles you are taking away all the stress and are able to simply enjoy the magic of the river and the beauty of Devon.
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Yes. The swim is owned by Level Water, a charity that supports children with disabilities to learn to swim. We work hard to make all of our events accessible.
There are accessibility considerations at the start and particularly at the finish. If you have any questions or concerns, please email geri@levelwater.org and we will do everything we can to make this swim work for you.
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You will exit the water via a small ramp onto an Aqua dock (a floating jetty) and walk about 200m to the beach.
Once on the beach, there will a carpet leading you to the entrance to the event village field. About a 10m walk.
There is then a walk up a short hill, 250m, up towards the event village. At the bottom of the slope we will have refreshments, a warming tent and medical support.
We have an alternative accessible exit which involves a short boat ride and a short car ride to the event village.
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During the sign up process, you need to read and agree the following documents.
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Charity Place
A charity place comes at a reduced fee (£70 instead of £120) and with a fundraising target of £250. All the money you raise goes towards 1-1 swimming lessons for children with disabilities across the UK.
General Entry
General Entry is £120 and gets you access into the Dart10k on your chosen day.
Volunteer & Swim
These tickets are very limited and give you reduced entry into the swim (£70 instead of £120) and you agree to volunteer the day you are not swimming. You’ll also receive priority entry for the 2026 Dart10k.
If you do not volunteer, the charity will ask you to pay the additional amount of £50.
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The swim! Your entrance fee covers the costs of putting on a complex event like this, including swim safety cover, medical cover, timing/safety chips, baggage transfer, coach transfers and an event swim hat and gift.
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When you register you’ll receive an email confirming your registration (check your spam/junk email folders just in case). If you definitely haven’t received a confirmation email by 48 hours after the money was taken from your card, then please email geri@levelwater.org and we will look into it for you.
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No, you can only buy a place for yourself, as each swimmer is required to sign the waiver. Tickets can only be purchased through our website’s ticketing platform Njuko - any tickets bought through any other source will be void and will be cancelled without refund or compensation.
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When buying a fundraising ticket at a significantly reduced price you will have a fundraising target of £250 for Level Water. We will support you along the way. On average people raise £400!
Please set up your JustGiving page straight away, or give us a good reason for not setting up a page (using another platform, offline fundraising, joint page).
If you do not fundraise then you will be required to pay the difference in your tickets price (£50) before you are allowed to swim.
All money raised goes to Level Water to teach children with disabilities to swim. We work at 200 pools around the country and deliver 60,000 bespoke swimming lessons each year.
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Can I get a refund if I cancel my ticket?
After the initial 14 day cooling off period we don’t offer refunds on tickets. If you cannot swim then you can transfer your ticket to someone else.
We have an adverse weather cancellation insurance policy. If this is triggered and pays out to us, we will be able to refund an equivalent proportion of your ticket price. The details of this policy are below.
Cancellation by us
Level Water works hard to deliver events that are as safe as possible. The safety of our participants and staff is always our priority. There are inherent risks and challenges of swimming in the sea, river or lakes, which can lead to situations where event cancellation, rescheduling or reformatting is required.
We may have to cancel an event if circumstances beyond our reasonable control arise, including, without limitation, war, civil or political unrest, terrorism, adverse weather or poor water quality.
We are not insured for all event cancellation eventualities.
If circumstances beyond our control require us to cancel the event, then Level Water has no responsibility for any costs you have incurred and unfortunately won’t be able to issue a refund on your ticket purchase unless it is weather related.
Cancellation insurance for adverse weather.
Level Water holds adverse weather event cancellation insurance for our 2025 events.
If we cancel the event due to adverse weather, we will file an insurance claim. If this is successful, the insurance payment will be used to issue refunds or partial refunds.
Whilst we’ve taken care to ensure that the policy includes relevant details, as with all insurance policies, the final discretion is with the insurer and therefore cannot be guaranteed.
The details of our insurance policy state that;
The event can proceed in continuous moderate rainfall
The event can proceed in wind speeds up to 20mph
The event cannot go ahead in continuous heavy rainfall
The event cannot go ahead in wind speeds over 20mph.
The policy excludes cover for cancellation, abandonment, disruption or rescheduling of the event directly or indirectly resulting out of, contributed to by, or in connection with fog, mist, low cloud or restricted visibility.
The policy covers extreme weather conditions which:
a) occur on the day(s) of the event and which are deemed by you or the event organiser on the day of the event to pose a serious threat to the safety of those attending the event;
and/or b) occur during the policy period and which result in conditions which the local authority consider to pose a serious threat to the safety of those attending the event;
and/or c) occur during the policy period and which prevent You or the event organiser from undertaking the necessary set up to enable the event to proceed due to: (i) concern for the safety of those responsible for the necessary set up, or (ii) reasons of physical impossibility
We have a process in place with Event Water Safety Limited and the Dart Harbourmaster to ensure that we monitor the weather meticulously in the run up to the event. Level Water will take the decision, based on advice from Event Water Safety Limited and the Dart Harbourmaster as to whether or not the swim is safe to go ahead.
We will communicate with you at the earliest possible opportunity if there is a risk of cancellation.
Tickets & Refunds
Transport & Parking
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It's possible to have a car-free weekend, as Totnes is well served by public transport and a shuttle bus is included in the price of your entry.
We strongly encourage all swimmers to get the train or car share to keep the small, winding Devon roads clear of traffic.
Parking and coach transport tickets will be available to book after registration. We will email you in advance.
Parking at the Start: There are limited paid council car parks in Totnes. Please make sure you arrive in time to find a space and put sufficient time on your vehicle. There will be shuttles buses to take you back to your car after the swim.
Parking at the Finish: The National Trust has kindly allowed us to use their field at Greenway for parking. There is a limited amount of space and you must pre-book this parking field at a cost of £10 during registration. There is no alternative parking near the finish and anyone who hasn’t pre-booked (swimmer or spectator) will be turned away.
Please work with us on this, pre-book the parking and use the provided car park. The car park will be open all day but is not available overnight.
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There will be shuttle buses back to Totnes for you and your supporters after the swim.
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Getting to Totnes is very easy with a mainline train from London and Bristol.
It’s a 20min walk from the station to the start through the wonderful town of Totnes.
We would love more people to get the train to the event to keep the roads clear of traffic.
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There will be priority parking at the finish at Greenway.
There are disabled parking bays at Longmarsh car park. They will be first-come, first-served.
If you need accessible parking please email us at geri@levelwater.org before purchasing tickets to discuss your needs.
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You can be dropped off at the start in Totnes.
If you supporter is then driving to meet you at the finish, please make sure you have booked them a parking ticket for the parking field.
There is a limited amount of space and you must pre-book this parking field at a cost of £10. There is no alternative parking near the finish and anyone who hasn’t pre-booked (swimmer or spectator) will be turned away.
Please work with us on this, pre-book the parking and use the provided car park. The car park will be open all day but is not available overnight.
Training
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The Dart10k is a bucket-list challenge and a "marathon" distance swim. Many swimmers target this event for a number of years, and build up their distance before taking on the swim. If you are unsure then you may wish to get another year of training and a shorter outdoor swim under your belt before taking on the Dart10k. Of course, we will make sure all participants finish safely and successfully.
If you can already swim continuously for at least 3km, can swim a mile in under 40 minutes in the pool, and are committed to training through the summer, then this is probably within your reach.
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If you’ve swum any kind of distance in a pool then that is a good place to start and a great place to increase your training. But open water has new factors to get used to as well, including colder water, not being able to see the bottom and ‘chop’ (wind-blown waves). It is essential you experience some outdoor and cold water training prior to the event. It will help you to prepare and acclimatise to the water temperatures on the day. Some easy ways to get some open water practice:
Join the discussions with other Dart10k swimmers in the Level Water Facebook group.
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You will be swimming in brackish water – a mixture of salt and fresh water. This will be more buoyant than fresh water, which can make swimming in flat, calm conditions slightly easier. It is a good idea to swim in your wetsuit in salt or brackish water prior to the event, so there are no surprises.
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Yes. First, cold acclimatise – this means swimming outdoors regularly before the event, in a lido, sea, river or lake. You may be amazed how fast your body gets used to lower temperatures. Second, consider investing in a rash vest, booties or gloves if you are particularly prone to cold. Remember, you will be generating heat as you swim.
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Building up your training properly is more important than having actually completed the specific distance. The atmosphere and adrenalin on the day will help you to complete the event.
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A little. The big differences between swimming indoors and outdoors are the fact you need to be able to swim in a straight line (without the help of pool lines) and check where you’re going (“sighting”), and the water may be choppier. There is some advice on sighting and breathing above chop on the OSS website.
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Most swimmers will do front crawl, as it is an efficient stroke that allows you to see where you are going. The main issue with breaststroke will be your comfort: it is hard to do breaststroke for sustained periods in wetsuits as they put extra pressure on the knees. Backstroke is not allowed, as you cannot navigate the course or other swimmers.
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Swimmers are asked to time themselves in the pool when they register and give us their time for swimming a mile at a relaxed and sustained pace. The 10k swim is for swimmers who can do a mile in under 40 minutes. Once in the water, do not worry about anyone else, relax and swim at your own pace. If you become separated from the main pack, then the safety crew may pick you up and leapfrog you further down river.
This swim is not suitable for plus-40-minute milers. Experience of open water / outdoor swimming is required. Swimmers who aren't able to maintain the 40-minute pace risk running out of water depth at the finish line due to the tide.
Training is required and a good level of swimming is necessary to complete the swim.
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It depends on the year! In 2023 we are swimming on a big Spring tide, which will give you a reasonable amount of assistance. We go off with slack water, but the outgoing tide will assist your swim. The exact amount will depend on the size of the tide that day, the volume of water in the river, and the time that your group sets off. We recommend being fully prepared for a 10k swim and delighted by any assistance nature gives you.
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There will be two floating feeding stations manned by our amazing volunteers at 4km and 8km along the route. We'll provide drinks and snacks like water, bananas, flapjacks and jelly babies.
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Our water safety team will be on hand during the event to offer their support, and very tired, cold or struggling swimmers will be evacuated from the water/leap-frogged down river.
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Over the years we’ve learned that the water in the Dart in the first fortnight of September ranges from 13-18C, with 14-17C being the more normal range.
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If you need to stop during the swim, the safety crew will evacuate you. There are paramedics on hand, and a warm up tent - please use it and tell a volunteer if you need to go there, and they will assist you into the tent, get you hot chocolate and your bags and look after you.
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The event village will be on a glorious field over looking the River Dart. We have also been given access to an amazing courtyard where we’ll have food stalls, refreshments, music, warming and changing tents, toilets and our amazing brand partners.
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Yes. Delicious hot food and drink will be available to buy at the swim finish in Greenway.
During the swim
Wetsuits, tow floats & fins
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Yes, full-length (“wrist-to-ankle neoprene”) triathlon/ swimming wetsuits are compulsory. We do allow a limited number of experienced ‘skins’ swimmers to take part. This is because it is a long swim and the water is cold: with a shortie or no wetsuit you will get too cold. Surf wetsuits are not typically comfortable or flexible enough to swim 10k: they are restrictive around the shoulders, which makes front crawl harder, and very buoyant around the feet which makes breaststroke difficult.
The non-wetsuit category is for pre-authorised experienced swimmers who have recent experience of swims of similar and greater length without wetsuits in the previous 12 months.
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If your wetsuit is made of neoprene, designed for swimming/triathlon/swim-run and covers your body from wrist to ankle, then that is fine. If you wish to wear less than this then please apply for a skin swim. Bare arms are not permitted without skins swimming permission.
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If you wish to swim without a full-length wetsuit, please tick the box on your application that you would like to be considered for a skin’s swimmer application (this includes shortie wetsuits). You will then receive an email form which you have until 30th April to complete.
The returned skins swimmer application will be considered, and you will then be informed of our decision within a month. The team will be looking at 3 things:
Previous documented experience of long-distance swimming without a wetsuit in similar temperatures, e.g., the Channel, Windermere one-way, BLDSA events, Swimtrek.
Current training at similar temperatures (anticipated 14-17 degrees)
Willingness to undertake a long-distance practice swim prior to the event of a similar distance and a similar temperature prior to the event, to ensure you do not become hypothermic.
You do not need to provide notarised evidence, logbooks of your experience or certificates of completion to evidence your experience. We will assess your experience based on your skin-swimming application form, completed by you. We work on the basis that your application is truthful. Where appropriate we verify this by looking at events’ official published results.
The decision of the water safety manager is final on wetsuits and no discussion can be entered into. We advise swimmers to be prepared to wear a wetsuit if asked. All swimmers agree to abide by the event rules.
The bottom line on skins swimmers is that we welcome experienced skins swimmers, who show (on their application form) recent experience and acclimatisation to these distances at this temperature, but we are not the place to do your first long skins swim (or your first long skins swim in a while) as you will not have individual safety support. This rule is for everyone's safety - safety cover is shared. Groups such as the BLDSA offer swims where you provide your own safety cover and are more appropriate for anyone trying a long-distance swim without a wetsuit for the first time.
Please note, your ticket is sold on a “wetsuit compulsory” basis, and if we are unable to grant you skins swimmer permission your ticket is not refundable.
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Swim Collective events are tow-float free. We have ample safety cover who watch swimmers via their brightly coloured hats. Tow floats makes sighting swimmers harder, by doubling the number of brightly coloured objects in the water and may entangle other swimmers.
Snorkels, hand paddles, and fins are not permitted as the hard edges risk injuring other swimmers at the swim start. If you require these for medical reasons, please declare this on your swimmer disclaimer.
We ask that you don't wear headphones, so that the lifeguards are able to get your attention if needed.
Please don’t use any mechanical or powered propulsion devices. Any other items that could inhibit the flow of the river or compromise the safety of others are also restricted.
Most swimmers with personal medication tuck it up the sleeve of their wetsuit. If this doesn't cover your needs and you want to use a tow float for the purpose, please contact geri@levelwater.org
Other
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Unfortunately not. One of the things that makes this swim so special is that the River Dart can only be experienced in all its glory from the water. There is very little footpath or road access to the water.
Shuttle buses are available to transport supporters to the start and finish.
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No. We ask that spectators and supporters do not attempt to kayak or boat alongside the swimmers, in order to minimise the amount of boat traffic on the river around them. Ample professional safety cover is provided for the swimmers; there's no need for additional boats around the swim. If you would like to apply for a job on the professional safety team, please contact geri@levelwater.org
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For general questions, email geri@levelwater.org or our facebook event is the place to ask (and answer!) general questions with other swimmers.
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If your question is specific to your personal circumstances, please email geri@levelwater.org and allow up to a week for a reply. You are likely to get a faster response by posting in the facebook event instead.
