2025 Summary
/This year was glorious! I might just finish there.
WEATHER & CONDITIONS
Whilst the weather was lovely for most of the summer, the water was odd. I’ve never known the water temperature in west Cornwall vary so much. It would get up to 17-18 degree one day and drop 2 degrees 2 days later. It was up and down all summer. North Cornwall was far more consistent all summer and warmer, then in September north Cornish waters dropped and west Cornish waters warmed right up. It’s now October and the water here is still quite reasonable.
Weather-wise, we were really lucky all summer. We had some glorious holidays. There was the odd holiday that was quite wet and it was wild in September. We held one holiday under the yellow weather warning for wind but still had a brilliant holiday…managing to stay out of the wind. This particular holiday took me far longer than any other to plan but we put on some fantastic, sheltered swims.
We also headed inland for late September - early October and put on a series of quarry swim. So although we had a few storms, we still put on nice, sheltered swims.
SWIMS
Each year tends to lend itself to certain swims and swim routes and I think sometimes we get into certain habits that continue through that particular season. This year we eased off the St Michael’s Mount, Mousehole and Kynance swims. We did a lot of 3 Bears Caves swims, seemed to end up at Coverack a bit, the Devil’s Frying Pan (Cadgwith)…as well as putting on a few firsts! Porthcothan (a plan B swim) was glorious, Porthkerris has some lovely routes and a great set up on the beach (cafe, changing facilities, hot showers), as well as a swim up the Percuil River, an evening training session at Hayle Lido, a couple of swims (inc. a night swim) at BF Adventures, attempted a swim at Lantic Bay (had to cancel due to conditions) and put on a couple of stunning swims at Porthgwarra (image below).
EVENTS
2025 saw us put on more mini-events and larger events than ever before.
For the first time ever, we offered the 10K Day Event with shorter options. Entry was available for the 10km event, as well as an option for a 5km and 7.5km route. We split the event into 4 x 2.5km routes. The shorter routes offered swims entry over the first 2 swims, we were also very flexible in terms of on-the-day entry…with quite a few people in the 5K swim staying on and completing the additional 2 swims.
As well as longer events, we also put on a beautiful 3K Day in St Ives. 3 swims of 1km, totaling 3km. Swims were put on at Bamaluz Beach, Porthminster and Carbis Bay. We used the train to get everyone into St Ives, so it was a nice, easy day in terms of logistics and parking. We also saw a big Barrel Jellyfish on the swim. A particular highlight for some of the swimmers!
WILDLIFE
2024 saw two waves of jellyfish, that hung around for a few weeks in total. I actually had to move the first swim on a holiday last year, which is a first. This year I personally saw around 5 jellyfish (of the stinging variety) all year! With the wind direction constantly changing we didn't didn’t see any ‘waves’ of jellies blow in. Saw a few Barrel Jellyfish, which are always amazing to see up close.
During our July holiday (pretty sure it was this one), we saw a big pod of dolphins swimming off Porthgwarra beach. We then swam at Porthcurno in the afternoon and they followed us across. We had a group of swimmer directly in front of the Minack Theatre in the water, all with their backs to the theatre….watching the dolphins put on a show!
Below, a Barrel Jellyfish with my eldest daughter.
PROBLEM CHILD
There’s always one swim each year, that proves to be slightly problematic. A swim that has to repeatedly be cancelled or moved to a new route. This year was kynance Cove. Funnily enough, 2024 was a dream year for swimming at Kynance.
*Image from 2024 when Kynance was behaving itself.
HIGHLIGHTS
It’s been such a long season it’s hard to remember all of the swims and pick highlights!
NIGHT SWIM AT BF ADVENTURES - the night swims are always a massive hit with swimmers. It’s such a unique experience. We’ve also added the option of a sauna to all of our night swim events. This years was no exception. A fairly clear sky, reasonable weather and a great, sociable environment and communal meal after the swim. The site also has very affordable cabin accommodation, meaning that some of the swimmers stayed over night and experienced the same swim and sauna, in daylight hours.
PORTHGWARRA - we had two perfect mornings here, this year. I’ve stayed away from this swim previously, as you can get a really strong current running through. With extensive research and some recces however, we put on two glorious swims here. One, featuring a dolphin display.
ST IVES 3K DAY - just the perfect weather, at a time of year that offered warm water and flat, calm conditions.
THE 10K DAY - a close friend of Sea Swim Cornwall recently passed away. He worked with the team on our St Austell 10K Day event, as well as on various other events. At the end of the last swim in St Austell, Ben was paddling in with the last swimmer and I decided to paddle out and accompanied the two of them in for the last 400m. We had a good natter for 10 minutes about nothing particularly meaningful but it was the last time I saw him and a memory I hope to hold on to for quite some time.
