FAQs

• All places on the Brownsea Swim are strictly non-transferable and non-refundable.

• Places cannot be deferred into future swims. (Please see terms and conditions for full details).

• Participation in the Event is personal to you; you are strictly prohibited from swapping, selling or transferring or offering to sell, swap or transfer the place in the Event or allowing any other person to wear the event number/cap.

• Any breach of this Condition shall render the entry void. If you are found to be in breach of this Condition we reserve the right to exclude you from participation in future events 

We follow the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) swimming  guidelines for weather conditions. which simply states in WOWSA 4.14: 

• Continuously monitor weather conditions, including wind speed, wave height, visibility.

• Have response plans for altering the course or canceling the event in unsafe weather.

As such we have developed our own  Go NoGo Form and we track the weather  conditions, sea state and water quality  closely in the ten days leading up to the event and on the swim of the swim to ensure that all risks are monitored to ensure that we are able to offer you a safe swim.

Please note that NOT only is YOUR  Safety but the safety of  our Safety Crew and Marshals is at the heart of this swim and rest assured that we WILL NOT  put ANYONE at risk just to ensure that the swim goes ahead.

If conditions are predicted to be unsafe then the difficult decision will be made to cancelled the swim. 

As already mentioned , we do not take cancellation decisions lightly but the safety of the swimmers and all our volunteers are paramount.

See  our Terms and Conditions for further details on our  Cancellation Policy

As much as we'd love to be able to accommodate everyone who wants to swim, we have to work with some very specific parameters: 

The Brownsea Swim is tidal, and each year we have to look for a specific set of times and (spring) tides. 

The variation in tide times means that it is not possible to run the event in waves or on consecutive days.

A typical swim has approx 100 volunteers assisting either as part of the safety cover team or the event marshals. This in itself is a mammoth task to co-ordinate and as such only viable once a year.

The small dedicated volunteer team that organise the swim each year put hours and hours of their own time into organising each event, again only possible once a year without incurring burn out.

Distance definitions: 

Full Distance: Approx. (6.5Km) or (4.0miles). Starts and Finishes at the Castle Beach. Tidally assisted on both sides of the Island. 

Half Distance: Approx.(3.2Km) or (2.0miles). Starts at the Maryland Beach, near Pottery Pier, and Finishes at the Castle Beach. Tidally assisted. 

The Half Distance Category will start approx 60 mins after the main start. Swimmers will be ferried to the Half Swim Start Point by boat. The Half Swim will finish on the Castle Beach with all the full distance swimmers.

NOTE 1:    
distances given above are Approx and are dependent  on how you navigate your  way around the island.

NOTE 2 :
for 2024 the HALF DISTANCE SWIM WILL NOT TAKE PLACE

As much as we'd love to have you be able to share the event with friends and family we are unable to accommodate spectators.

The swim start and finish beach sits within the grounds of Brownsea Castle (which is operated as a private hotel by John Lewis and Partners).

We are deeply grateful to Brownsea Castle team and to the John Lewis partnership for allowing us to use their grounds for this event.

In order to minimise the disruption to their guests, we do limit access to the grounds to swimmers and the event team only. 

We currently use all available space on the shoreline for swimmers and event teams. The foreshore area has quite a narrow beach, relative to other swim starts and finishes.

This is part of the terms and conditions of the swim.

Please click here for information on spectator arrangements.

Tow floats and swimming aids such as swim snorkels, fins, hand paddles and or other means of propulsion are not permitted on the swim. Please see terms and conditions for full details.

Once all swimmers are registered, we will contact everyone and ask them to check and confirm they are entered for the correct category.

Once the confirmation deadline has passed, no more changes will be possible. 

We do not accept category changes on the day of the swim.

 Full details can be found in the terms and conditions.

In our journey towards going green and making the Brownsea Swim as environmentally clean as possible we have decided to not go down the route of providing t-shirts this year, which will not only cut the need for them to be packaged in  individual plastic bags, but reduce the  cost to the environment in terms of manufacturing the  t-shirts. 

We will however, be trying to source an alternative memento that is both local and environmentally friendly

see our Environmental Mission Statement

The Brownsea Swim has a full distance swim and offers swimmers the choice of swimming in westuits or skins. 

We strongly encourage swimmers to pick categories that match their training conditions. If you train regularly in similar sea conditions without a wetsuit you are welcome to swim in the non-wetsuit category.

If you have any concerns about getting too cold, we encourage you to select the wetsuit option. The swim was conceived as a challenge and we do want as many of our swimmers as possibly to finish safely and to enjoy their swim.

 Full details can be found in the Event Rules.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three swimmers in each of these sets:

• Full Distance, Non-Wetsuit, Men 

• Full Distance, Non-Wetsuit, Women 

• Full Distance, Wetsuit, Men 

• Full Distance, Wetsuit, Women

Please see Event Rules for further details.

There are public toilets available for swimmers:

• At registration - on Poole Quay

• On Brownsea Island, just after the ferry Pier

• There are no facilities provided in the grounds of Brownsea Castle.

Further details on this will be sent out to swimmers in the Event information pack. This is sent out, by email, around a month ahead of the swim.