SARA held its second Wild Wye Swim in the area around Ross-on-Wye, on Sunday, and raised over £12,000 for the rescue charity. Over 400 swimmers took part in the event, which had to be cancelled last year due to a storm three days beforehand causing the river to swell. This year heavy rain was forecast but largely held off.
Swimmers came from across the country, many inspired by the success of the first event held in 2017, but many local people took part as well. Swimmers could choose to swim one, seven or 10.5km, with the longest swim going from Kerne Bridge to Huntsham Bridge. Over a dozen junior swimmers participated in the 1km pair category, swimming with an adult - at least one lady swam with her grandson, and described it as a really special day.
Event Director Richard Newhouse, himself a SARA operational team member, said: “We were delighted that we could grow this event and make it such a success. It has raised much needed funds to enable us to continue our search and rescue operations. The feedback from swimmers online has been great, and the SARA team members enjoyed it too. We have five different bases, and we rarely all work together on one project, so it was a bit like a giant training exercise where the individual and small team skills are already solid so we can practice working in a big operation.
“We are very grateful to the local organisations that made this event possible, particularly WyeDean Canoe and Adventure Centre, Monmouth Canoe Hire, the Courtfield Estate and Suntory Lucozade Ribena in Coleford. Monmouth Canoe Club, Monmouth Rotary Club and Chepstow Harriers also helped out.”See the full story in this week’s edition of the Ross Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition here