As part of the inaugural Vachery Triathlon Festival, Vachery Pond in Surrey, UK, is the stunning venue for two new 1,500 and 3,000 metre open water swim races on Sunday 26 August. The pond is ‘an open water swimmer’s dream’; a tree lined, spring fed, 900m long private lake covering almost 50 acres.
As the event organisers point out, ‘It’s an astonishing fact that this beautiful expanse of open water remains unknown to the public at large when it is in the Surrey Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and only minutes from nearby London and the M25, M23 and M3 motorways.’
The 1,500 metre race is £15 to enter and the longer 3,000m event is an affordable £20 per swimmer.
On Saturday 23 June, the Vachery Pond Big Swim organisers, Raw Energy Pursuits once again hosted their successful and oversubscribed 3.8K swim in the River Arun. They predict that the 12th century Vachery Estate’s remarkable stretch of water and its convenient location will help the 25-27 August Bank Holiday’s Vachery Triathlon Festival become an annual must-do event for multisport enthusiasts.
The Vachery Triathlon Festival is a weekend of road and Xtri cross triathlon and open water swim racing with camping and fun activities for kids of all ages.
There is an unusual Olympic connection to the festival. As such an ancient unspoilt expanse of water, Vachery Pond has not got permanent access, a slipway or steps to deal with the large number of swimmers the events will attract.
The organisers chanced upon a handy solution by hiring the actual pontoon that the London Olympic open water swimmers will use to enter into the Serpentine and into Olympic history. The moment the London Olympic event ends, the pontoon will be packed up and transported directly to The Vachery Estate where it will be stored before being floated on the Pond.
www.vacherytriathlon.com/big-swims/
