A series of sea swims taking place during the 2009 Queenie Festival in Port St Mary have begun to attract considerable interest - most notably from Olympic open water champion David Davies.
The Welshman, who won the silver medal in the men's 10km open water marathon in Beijing, visited the Island last weekend (18th - 19th April) to meet and talk with young members of the Isle of Man Swimming Squad.
While sitting in on a coaching session at the Western Swimming Pool, Davies expressed an interest in coming back to the Island in 2010, specifically to attend the Festival. The small matter of the World Championships in Rome this summer will prevent a more immediate return visit!
The 'Scallop Shell Swims' will take place between 30th June and 5th July, as part of Port St Mary's second annual Queenie Festival. There will be three separate events, with distances tailored to suit both junior and novice swimmers, and those with more experience, such as triathletes.
The maximum race distance is 1.6km and the minimum, 0.5km. Participants may compete in wetsuits or costumes, depending on their level of confidence - and hardiness - in the water.
The swims, which are the latest addition to the packed programme of marine-themed events taking place under the Festival banner, were devised as a way of encouraging more people to experience the challenge and excitement of open water swimming.
An exceptional spokesman for the sport, David Davies won last year's inaugural Great North Swim - a mile-long race in Lake Windermere with several thousand participants. He claimed victory from fellow Olympian Maarten van der Weijden who had, in turn, beaten him to Gold in Beijing in the 10km event. However, there was, says Davies, 'never any rivalry - if anyone was going to beat me, I would have chosen him.'
The Welshman, who is now focused on building up to the 2012 Olympics in London, urges anyone considering open water swimming to take the plunge: 'It's not for the faint-hearted. It's hard work but the feel-good factor, the sense of self-satisfaction, is amazing.'
The Scallop Shell swims are being co-ordinated by Mark Gorry, himself a keen sea-swimmer. He comments 'The idea behind the swims is to encourage people to have a go at swimming in our idyllic bays, from club swimmers and triathletes to anyone who has ever looked out across the sea on a sunny afternoon and thought it looked inviting, but just needs a little encouragement.
'The weekday events are set in the evening to allow people to come down after work, while the final event is on the Sunday afternoon of the Tynwald bank holiday weekend, with beach-based fun events as well.
'We're also interested in encouraging those who fancy a new challenge, and are more than happy if people want to take part to raise funds for local charities. We can't guarantee Caribbean water temperatures, but it'll certainly be warmer than a New Years Dip, and only a little wetter than last year's Parish Walk, so why not give it a try?'
The Queenie Festival runs from 29th June to 5th July 2009. For more information, visit the website. To discover more about the Scallop Shell Swims and submit your entry, click here.
