The growth in the popularity of Triathlon has led to an increase in demand for both open water swimming events and access to venues for training. However many clubs and event organisers are being denied access to existing and potential venues.
In order to allay concerns regarding access to open water venues it is essential that organisers approach the task of arranging an event or training session with the highest regard for the safety of swimmers, officials and third parties.
Venue choice is pivotal with consideration taken to the type of water chosen and the level of environmental hazards the piece of water imposes on swimmers. The sea and rivers pose many more hazards than lakes or reservoirs, and many large and popular events take place on some of the UK’s best known lakes. For example, the Great North Swim was held in Windermere this year drawing some 10,000 entrants.
With this surge of interest, membership of the Outdoor Swimming Society is booming, with even Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA’s Chief Executive extolling the virtues of wild swimming in his blog Safety Gone Sane.
It is essential all open water swimming takes place in water meeting the minimum EU bathing standards as laid out by the Environmental Agency and meets the ITU water tolerance requirements. You can find full details on the British Triathlon Open Water Swimming Guidelines.
Another of the contributing factors to the safety of a swim venue will be the course design for the swim, and this will factor in the location and condition of the weed beds. It may be necessary for some “house keeping” to be carried out with regard to lake cleaning in preparation for open water swimming events. It’s essential that aquatic vegetation does not impede or pose a safety threat to either the swimmers or the safety boats accompanying them.
Lake cleaning can be made easy with the use of amphibious machines – a quick, efficient and cost effective solution. These machines will:
- Cut aquatic weeds to a depth of 2 metres
- Rake the cut material
- Deposit it on the banks for composting or removal from site
The end result is a clear water course ready for a successful sporting event.
The Truxor is a fantastic example of this. It is lightweight and can be towed by a 4×4 vehicle, it’s highly manoeuvrable, and can work from within the water with a range of tools which enable large quantities of aquatic weeds to be cut to a depth of 2 metres, and raked and removed from the water in a relatively short space of time. When it comes to lake cleaning, this versatile machine will also remove silt, dig out reeds and bulrushes – in other words carry out pretty much every activity required for lake cleaning.
Photo courtesy of @LizTriSpirit
Recent examples of this work in action was on Conningbrook Lake in Ashford ahead of the Owler Half Triathlon and Owler Aquabike, (with thanks to @LizTriSpirit for the photo), Luton Hoo in preparation for the Jenson Button Trust Triathlon, and the lake at Castle Howard ahead of the Castle Triathlon series.
Our expert team can make light work of lake cleaning for open water swimming or any other sporting event – fast.
So why not contact us for a free, no obligation quote for your lake cleaning needs. Simply call 01788 810614 or email info@aquatic-solutions.co.uk.
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