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swimming equivalent of a marathon ?

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liverpoool.feet Jul 2011 12:14am, 15 Jul 2011 473 posts	Quote Pin liverpoool.feet Hi there I was wondering why there isn't anything like swimming marathons. Or maybe there are? I don't know really. I mean, you can find a (running) marathon every week whereas there's nothing equivalent in swimming? Correct me if Im wrong? Probably there are some shorter events as there are triathlons but what about some longer stuff for the slow people? Jump in and swim for 6 hours nice and steady:) At the moment I do 3 km five times a week in around 1hr 40 ish min. Probably that's very slow, I know but still I'm enjoying it a lot. I'm a bit tired with running at the moment and would love some other challenge If there was something like a 10 k swim in (a pool!) with generous time limit I'd sign up straight away! Any ideas?
Hills of Death (HOD) Jul 2011 12:18am, 15 Jul 2011 25,010 posts	Quote Pin Hills of Death (HOD) 10k is recongnised as the marathon of swimming in the olympics
liverpoool.feet Jul 2011 12:24am, 15 Jul 2011 474 posts	Quote Pin liverpoool.feet but are there any events like this for 'normal' people? I mean general public?
Werewulf Jul 2011 12:29am, 15 Jul 2011 766 posts	Quote Pin Werewulf As a 'general public' person, no, I don't ever recall seeing anything like this advertised... However a lot of stuff goes on behind the scenes, so I wonder if there is anything......
K9 Jul 2011 5:54am, 15 Jul 2011 51 posts	Quote Pin K9 If you look up the BLDSA - British long distance swimming association you'll find lots of events, but they are generally open water. Some are longer than 10k! There are also things like the great swim series - but only up to 2 miles, and epic events - 500m/ 1 mile/ 2.4 mile - also open water. Various other standalone events - again OW In the pool there is the annual swimathon - charity pool swim of various distances up to 5km, various pools around the country.
K9 Jul 2011 5:59am, 15 Jul 2011 52 posts	Quote Pin K9 I also swim about that sort of distance 5-6 times a week LF, but needed to find something to aim towards - as in training for a running race - to keep me motivated. There are only so many laps you can do without any particular reason! I discovered the great North Swim and did that 2 years ago, then found other events the following year. Have you tried OW? It's fab!
mxhornet Jul 2011 6:21am, 15 Jul 2011 30,727 posts	Quote Pin mxhornet entrycentral.com
liverpoool.feet Jul 2011 11:46pm, 15 Jul 2011 475 posts	Quote Pin liverpoool.feet Wow that website is great K9 Will have a proper look some time definitely. No I haven't done any open water other than some leisurly swims in lakes/sea whilst on holidays It's probably so much different to swimming in the pool! Forget all the weed and jellyfish, but it's just too dark! You can't see where you're swimming when there's no black line to follow under you And then even if I could swim for hours and hours in the pool in OW it would get freezing too soon and what? But I'll never say never! I'll definitelly look into the Swimathon thing too thanks
liverpoool.feet Jul 2011 12:10am, 16 Jul 2011 476 posts	Quote Pin liverpoool.feet OMG there's something like a 21 mile lake swim! Wow
K9 Jul 2011 6:21am, 16 Jul 2011 53 posts	Quote Pin K9 And then there's the English Channel of course!