12 The Glade Wroxall Ventnor I.O.W. PO38 3QA Tel : 01983 852625 Affiliated to ASA Southern Region & BLDSA E-mail :
[email protected] Dear Swimmer April 2-16 P2P Swim 2016 I am pleased to announce that the swim this year will be held on August 6th. The swim start will be later than usual due to the tides being more tricky this year. The swim will start at 2:30pm from the Sandown Lifeboat station. It has been decided to keep the entries as in previous year (i.e. no wet suits). It is one of the few swims that doesn’t have this category and the overwhelming majority of swimmer feedback last year was to keep it as it always has been for the last 60 odd years. The Pier to Pier swim follows a long tradition here on the IOW. When it first started 64 years ago the Deep Sea Fishermen and other locals threw down the gauntlet during Shanklin Regatta week and challenged each other to a race in the sea from one end of the bay to the other, notably from Sandown Pier to Shanklin Pier! They swam in the traditional swim gear of the day in the open sea whatever the conditions! No risk assessment, no safety cover probably, few officials, no numbered hats e.t.c. Over 40 of last year’s swimmers expressed support for ‘skins’ and suits of course! Remember you are entering a long standing traditional swim following in the footsteps of the deep sea fishermen of yester year! We now run into the sea rather than jump off the pier, we are accompanied (for safety reasons) by so many kayakers, fishermen, Sandown Lifeboat and Ryde Inshore Rescue! We finish the race on the beach by Shanklin Rowing Club.