Spending 24 hours stranded at Stansted Airport wasn’t what I had in mind when I set off for BEST Fest 2018 earlier this week. The delay meant I missed two of the events I wanted to do: the 1.5k Colonia Classic 2 and the 2.5k “Tell me your time”. I was particularly looking
forward to the second as I had a planned to swim it with Helen Webster (Editor of 220 Triathlon) in swimrun style – i.e. tethered together. The outcome would have been interesting. The idea of that event is that the winner is not the fastest swimmer but the one who gets closest to predicting the time it will take them to complete the distance, without the aid of a watch or other pacing device.
Never mind, I’m here now and making the best of the time I’ve got. I’ve just completed the 3km Es Carbo Italian Volcano Swim. This swim starts with a 3km walk along the beach from the finish point at Colonia St Jordi’s port beach to Es Carbo beach, from where we swam back. This was designated as a challenge swim rather than a race, and we set off in
three different speed pods. The relaxed pace gave plenty of time to take in the scenery, both above and below the water. Conditions were a little rough but that just added to the fun, and the water temperature was allegedly 18 degrees but felt warmer. I swam non-wetsuit and was comfortable throughout, and I’m not a fan of the cold. The name of the swim, incidentally, derives from small pieces of black volcanic rock washed onto the beach by currents from Italy.
This is my second trip to BEST Fest. If you haven’t been before, I’d certainly recommend considering a visit next year. Colonia St Jordi is a pleasant place to stay, there is a whole range of open water swimming events to choose from plus there are
options for coached sessions and swims at the BEST Centre’s brilliant 50m pool.
Anyway, I have some more beaches to explore. .
Swim wild and free,
Simon Griffiths
Founder & publisher, Outdoor
Swimmer
