More than 500 swimmers head to Rother Valley for open water double

The views of Rother Valley Country Park await as more than 500 swimmers head to the open water venue this weekend for a double header of Swim England events.

It’s set to be a celebration of open water swimmers of all ages with both the GoCardless Swim England Open Water National Age Group Championships and the Open Water National Masters Championships being held on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 July.

On Saturday, we begin with the National Age Group Championships which will see swimmers from six different age groups battle it out to become national champions.

Those competing have either qualified after a top three finish in their regional qualifiers or have set a competitive time in the pool.

Amongst the athletes involved are a host of faces that are fresh from swimming at the Aquatics GB Summer Championships.

They will be part of a field of future stars that includes the quartet of Lucas Bryant, Amelie Blocksidge, Samuel Sterry and Darcey Smith who all took British gold in the 1500m Freestyle events at Ponds Forge.

Tigers Jersey’s Sterry will be the first in the open water as the 17-year-old lines up for the 7.5k races which kick off the action-packed weekend in South Yorkshire.

He will be part of the Open/Male 17-18 Years event, with both the 16 Years and 19+ Years races also taking place across the same distance.

The 14 Years and 15 Years events will then be held across 5km’s, with the 13-year-old swimmers rounding out the day with the 3km events.

As well as the athletes hunting for medals, there will also be a top club award on offer, with Wycombe District Swimming Club looking to secure the crown for a fifth consecutive year.

Relays bring new dimension to masters championships

The first ever relay races at the GoCardless Swim England Open Water National Masters Championships are set to take place this weekend after last year’s event was cancelled due to a medical emergency.

As we fast forward nearly a full year on from the 2023 event – Nick Parkes has made a full recovery and will be one of more than 200 competitors taking to the water on Sunday.

The relays have been implemented to bring the team and community feel of the masters community to the open water championships, with the relays concluding a day where we could see some athletes come away with four or five gold medals from this years’ events.

Relay medalists can also add medals in either or all of the 5km, 3km and 2km races, where back in 2019 four swimmers completed an incredible hat-trick of gold medals.

That list included Parkes, as well as Hayley Davis and Pip Bennett, who will also be at Rother Valley this weekend.

East Leeds’ Bill Moore will be one to watch as he comes into this competition as the oldest swimmer at an incredible 87 years of age, as the competition brings together athletes from 18 years and over.

Results from both events will be available through Race Timing Solutions with the National Age Group Championships results available through this link and the Masters results here.

Make sure to check all of the event conditions for more details on the rules ahead of travelling down to the event through the Swim England competitor information pages.

Spectator entry is free of charge all weekend – providing a great opportunity for anyone to come down and attend two days of exciting swimming.

Event photography from both championships will be taken by Will Johnston Photography.