Open water enthusiasts to descend on Rother Valley for double header of events

A spectacular double header of national open water swimming events is set to take place in Sheffield as hundreds of athletes are ready to take part.

Rother Valley Country Park will welcome more than 500 swimmers across the weekend as it hosts this year’s Swim England Open Water National Age Group and National Masters Championships.

The national age group competition will take place on Saturday 29 July, followed by the masters competition on the Sunday.

Both events are set to commence at the same time, with the first races of each day scheduled for 10am.

There has been more than 300 entries into the national age groups, which sees age groups 12 and 13 years compete in the 2km race, 14 and 15 years compete in 3km, while 16 years and over complete in the 5km race.

Opening Saturday’s action will be the Boys 16 Years and Girls 16 Years races. The victors in those races last time out were Kingston upon Hull swimmer Joseph Moment and Wycombe District’s Lucy Fox respectively.

Wycombe District Swimming Club also went on to claim the top club award in 2022 after collecting seven medals – two gold, three silver and two bronze.

Fun and competitive atmosphere awaits

The Open Water National Masters Championships will return for the first time in four years and this time with some exciting relay races added to the mix.

The relay events will be contested in three categories: female, male and mixed teams consisting of two males and two females competing in a 4x400m relay races.

But similarly to the national age group championships, the remaining races in the event schedule will be contested over 2km, 3km and 5km.

Many have been eagerly awaiting the return of this event, with more than 200 entries for the masters competition alongside the promise of a fun and competitive atmosphere.

Back in 2019, the last time this event was held, four swimmers completed an incredible clean sweep of all the gold medals.

Hayley Davis, Harry Crisp, Pip Bennett and Nicholas Parkes each claimed a hat-trick of national titles in their respective age groups.

Spectator entry is free of charge for both events – providing a great opportunity to attend and experience two great national events.

All event imagery will be provided by Will Johnston Photography and links to the results for each of the events can be found below.

• Swim England Open Water National Age Group Championships 2023
• Swim England Open Water National Masters Championships 2023