READING THE CONDITIONS / PLANNING A SWIM

First port of call is the internet. There are a number of fantastic and reasonably accurate apps and websites available, when it comes to planning your swimming activity. The Windy App, Tide4Fishing / Nautide App, My Coast App, Surfline, Windfinder, Met Office Weather, River App (specific to rivers), BBC Weather…

Typically you’d be paying attention to the wind direction and strength, you may also want to check the conditions of the day before your swim, as those conditions can still play a role the next day. Tides and the size of the tides involved should be considered, as well as any changes in conditions (as these changes may take place earlier than forecast).

Forecasts are generally far more accurate within 1-3 days of the proposed date of your swim. Best practice is to check a couple of forecasts and ensure they’re fairly similar. If a number of forecasts all show varied conditions, in our experience it generally means erratic, unpredictable conditions, a lack of accuracy and you should exercise caution.

Typically you’d look for an off-shore wind, of 20kmph or under, for more calm, flat conditions.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT READING THE CONDITIONS AND TO VIEW SOME OF THESE APPS/WEBSITES - CLICK HERE

THE WINDS INFLUENCE ON CONDITIONS

The wind will often play a key role in the safety and enjoyment of your swim…and just how flat it will be. Now, when I talk about the wind in this paragraph/section, I’m really focusing on the winds influence on the water locally…rather than swell. We’ll cover swell, waves and surf separately. In an ideal world, you’d look to swim in winds under 20kmph (approx 25mph/25 knots) and off-shore winds ie. wind blowing across the land and directly out to sea, from where you’re swimming. Winds of 20kmph+ generally start to create chop and unfavorable conditions, especially if that wind is onshore (blowing in from the sea). A tail-wind can also be handy but you’d then be looking to swim from A-to-B and get out, walking back…otherwise you’d turn around and swim into a head-wind. An onshore wind of above 20kmph is what you should typically avoid, especially when it gets above 25kmph and you have a large stretch of unprotected bay. That wind has miles and miles of ‘fetch’/open water, where it’ll push chop into the bay with force and generally creates choppy conditions.

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RIP CURRENTS & CURRENTS

In short, a process such as waves and/or possibly tides push a mass of water up the beach or land mass. This mass of water ends up higher than sea level. The laws of gravity dictate that this water has to flow back down to sea level. This mass of water will always find the easiest route back to sea level. This often results in the formation of rip currents. Generally, the larger the mass moving towards the beach/land mass, the stronger the rip current ie. the larger the surf, the stronger the rip current.The important part here, is that the water is moving back to ‘sea level’. In the instance of a beach, the water mass is back at sea level just after the breaking waves…rip currents rarely move any further than just past the breaking surf.

FOR MORE INFO ON RIP CURRENTS/CURRENTS - CLICK HERE

SURF

Much like the wind, we have fairly accurate surf reports and forecasts. Surfline is the popular choice in this field. However, most other wind and condition apps will give you an idea of swell size and direction. The surf and size of the surf will often marry up with the wind strength and direction but not always. If you’re in an area that regularly gets swell/surf, it’s worth checking the forecast. Particularly if there are any forecast changes in swell, over the time period of your swim. Nothing worse than swimming out in flat calm conditions and having the surf and swell suddenly increase…

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WEATHER

Most of this is fairly obvious stuff. If you click through the hyperlinked text below, we’ll go through swimming during or after periods of heavy rain, thunder and lightning storms, mist/fog, sudden changes to wind direction or strength…

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TIDES

Simply put, tides are created by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun on the world’s oceans. When the earth, moon and sun align, we experience a stronger gravitational pull and larger tides - Spring Tides. There are also certain times between a low and high tide where there is greater water movement and there are potentially stronger currents… This section is well worth a read in further detail.

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LIFEGUARDS & WATER CRAFT

Lifeguards can be invaluable to sea swimmers (and lakes/rivers/quarries that are supervised), especially during the summer season. Not only do they keep an eye on you but can be a great resource for planning your days swim and pointing out dangers, like rips. Nothing better than confirmation of the position of the current rip currents, when you’re learning the art of rip current identification.

If you click through for more info, we’ll go over various lifeguard season info and talk about various water craft, what to look out for and the law, in regards to these craft.

MORE INFO - CLICK HERE