Records smashed at the The VivoBarefoot Wales Swim Run 2.0

Following a 3-year hiatus, the second edition of The Wales Swim Run returned last Saturday with over 120 athletes, from 10 nations, descending on the world-renowned Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Following the incredible feedback from the first event in 2019, this year saw the introduction of a sprint distance and individual offering. A welcome addition to the full distance and pairs entries.

The Wales Swim Run has always focused on the experience with athletes starting their journey by dinning together the night prior to the race. On this occasion they were treated to a sumptuous supper and Race Briefing at the Regency Hall in Saundersfoot. The evenings proceedings climax with the popular race vest presentation where all athletes are invited individually on to the stage to receive their unique, limited-edition bibs from our Race Director.

A cool and breezy morning welcomed the full distance athletes to the start line a Freshwater East. Sea conditions were slight with the incoming tide offering a challenging start. The full distance consists of 17 miles of running across the award-winning coast path, with seven 800m – 2.4k swims thrown in for good measure. Not for the faint hearted. The cool temperatures and calm swell made for some super-fast racing with last years mixed team winners Martin and Julie Andersen together with Tim Wood leading from the offset and taking advantage of the assisting westerly wind. Tim took the male full distance, individual title, setting an incredibly quick time of 4hours and 6 mins. A solid bench mark for future years. Martin and Julie used their course knowledge from 2019 and smashed the overall course record by 40 minutes! An incredible feat bearing in mind this was set by the Pro Team Envol from Sweden. Another returning athlete, Sarah Whelan from Ireland, this year chose the individual option, following her pairs triumph in 2019. Again, course knowledge proved very valuable as she took the ladies title in another lightening quick time of 5 hours and 23 minutes. The gents pairs was won by Team Tribe of One (Callum Davies and Rupert Milton) in a time of 4 hours and 52 minutes.

Matthew Evans (CEO of Activity Wales Events) had the following to say having raced this year’s event:

“We are privileged to race where we do across Wales, but this event is simply the cherry on top!  Crystal clear waters, breath-taking scenery and a challenging course all adds to the incredible experience this race delivers. The Wales Swim run is going from Strength to strength and it is always rewarding to see such an international field travel to this part of Pembrokeshire.”

 

 

Starting 2 hours later than the full distance, athletes gathered at Lydstep Haven for the start of the new sprint distance race. The sprint course covers 10 miles of running, 5 swims, and picks up the full distance athletes just shy of the half way mark. A great introduction for those new to concept of swim run. The men’s individual race was won by Alex Thorley in a time of 2 hours and 58 minutes, with May Galbraith taking the ladies title on 3 hours 48 minutes. In the pairs Team TW10 (Richard Precious and Jack Tremlett) took the gents title and Team KA’s Swimming (Debbie Phillips and Karen Vickery) the ladies. Both in extremely quick times of 3 hours 23 minutes and 3 hours 37 minutes respectively. The mixed pairs, sprint champions were Team Young and The Bold, consisting of Lucy Rees and David Walker in a time of 4 hours and 27 minutes.

Full list of results can be found here: https://www.thewalesswimrun.com/athletes/results/

We would like to extend a huge thank you to our partners VivoBarefoot and Erdinger as well as our incredible volunteers to have made this event into such a huge success.

We look forward to welcoming you all to the Pembrokeshire Coast on 22^nd July 2023.