Barbados Open Water Festival

Swimmers Support First Variety Club Charity Swim

6/25/2018

Intermittent rain showers did nothing to dampen the spirit of over 75 swimmers and over 100 kayakers who showed up at the “Annual Row For Charity” in aid of Variety – the Children’s Charity, Sunday June 24 in Carlisle Bay, Barbados.

Swim conditions in the Bay were absolutely ideal Sunday morning when the annual event hosted an open water swim relay race for the first time. Crystal clear water with incredible visibility and hardly a ripple in the calm water gently lapping onto the shore: perfectly accommodating the beach start and finish.  Pirates Swim Club and Saltwater Swimmers were noticeably well represented when the swimmers lined up to open the day’s activities at 8am.  Twenty teams of four competed, in age categories based on the cumulative years on each team and each swimmer completed the 400-metre course. An enthusiastic crowd of spectators gathered in the brilliant sunshine to cheer on the swimmers who ranged in age from six to seventy plus! There was a great turnout by junior swimmers, some pictured at left warming up ahead of the race as well as Saltwater group, third photo and Pirates Swim Club (4th photo at left).

Following the swim races and a few rain showers the action continued with numerous 12-member teams competing in two high-energy kayak races.

Well done to all swimmers, kayakers, spectators, sponsors and volunteers for supporting this very worthy cause. Variety the Children’s Charity in Barbados is one of more than 50 ‘tents’ throughout the world, including Australia, France, Israel, USA, United Kingdom, New Zealand and South Africa.  The Barbados branch was registered in 1984 but worldwide the he Charity has been active for 80 years. The goal of the charity is to raise funds for sick, disadvantaged and disabled children in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

Learn more about the amazing work done by the Variety Club in Barbados and how you can help here: www.varietybarbados.org

Every year, entry to the Barbados Open Water Festival 1.5K “Just For Fun” Swim supports the Variety Club.  This swim is not timed and swimmers can utilize swim aids. In 2018 BOWF is scheduled for Nov 7-11. Other races include: 1.5K, 3.3K, 5K and 10K.

The Fun Swim takes place during the annual festival and will be held on November 10th in 2018.  Learn more about BOWF here: BOWF website

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Cameron Bellamy Conquers Oceans Seven!

6/21/2018

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South African Cameron Bellamy has completed the Oceans Seven!  The final chapter was closed when Bellamy made it across the Tsuagru Strait of Japan in 11 hours and 7 minutes and 28 seconds on June 21, 2018. Next up for this world-class endurance athlete who already has enviable accomplishments in cycling and ocean rowing under his belt? A 90K swim around the island of Barbados. A feat that, to date, has never been accomplished.

Bellamy’s success of swimming the Tsugaru Strait on his second attempt means he has become only the 11th person and the first African to complete this challenge of seven open water channel swims around the world. The Tsugaru Strait is a channel between Honshu, the main island of Japan, and Hokkaido in northern Japan connecting the Sea of Japan with the Indian Ocean.  According to Tsugaruchannelswimming.com winds, turbulence and waves can be very high in this area along with marine life and a variety of sharks including Great Whites. Bellamy’s first attempt at Tsugaru was October 2017, but this was foiled by strong currents and very cold water.  This time, earlier in the year, water temperatures were a bit warmer (14-17 degrees Celsius).

Cameron Bellamy now joins a small and elite group of only ten others who have conquered Oceans Seven. They are: Stephen Redmond (Ireland), Anna-Carin Nordin (Sweden), Michelle Macy (United States), Darren Miller (United States), Adam Walker (United Kingdom), Kimberley Chambers (New Zealand), Antonio Argüelles (Mexico), Ion Lazarenco-Tiron (Republic of Moldova), Rohan More (India) Abhejali Bernardová (Czech Republic).

Steven Munatones, a coach and marathon swimming guru, devised the Ocean's Seven  for marathon swimmers back in 2008. Munatones chose them for their geographic and climatic diversity, extreme hardships and the intricate planning needed to succeed. He considers it Open water swimming’s version of the Seven Summits. The Oceans Seven include (1) the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, (2) the Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand, (3) the Moloka’i Channel between O’ahu and Moloka’i Islands in Hawaii, (4) the English Channel between England and France, (5) the Catalina Channel in Southern California, (6) the Tsugaru Channel between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan, and (7) the Strait of Gibraltar between Europe and Africa.

With the Oceans Seven adventure over, Bellamy will turn his attention to the longest swim of his life, around the island of Barbados (#SwimAroundBarbados).  His early estimate is for a 36 to 40 hour timeline to complete the swim. While the south-west and west coasts of Barbados offer ideal swimming conditions the south east, east and north coasts face the Atlantic and the rugged coastline is often pummelled by waves and strong unpredictable undercurrents are known to exist. The swim is planned for August 2018.

Cameron Bellamy, goes to the extreme to support early childhood education efforts in the most underdeveloped rural areas of South Africa and Zimbabwe. He is the founder of the charity known as the Ubunye Challenge. Read more about his charity and the incredible work already completed at ubunyechallenge.com.

Cameron Bellamy's first six Ocean 7 crossings:
The Cook Strait
Description: A swim between the South and North Islands of New Zealand, known for its cold water and volatile weather. 15% of attempts encounter sharks. Date: 11 March 2018. Distance: 32km Duration:12 hours 43 minutes

The Molokai Channel
Description: A swim between the islands of Molokai and Oahu in Hawaii. Known for its big seas, long distance, and myriad species of poisonous jelly fish. Date: 15 February 2017. Distance: 46 km Duration:17 hours 6 minutes

The North Channel
Description: A swim between Northern Ireland and Scotland. Known for being the hardest of the Oceans 7 swims.
It is frigidly cold, with temperatures of 10 –12 degrees C. Most attempts encounter swarms of deadly jellyfish.
Date: 14 July 2016. Distance: 35km Duration: 12 hours 13 minutes

The Catalina Channel
Description: A swim between Catalina Island and Los Angeles, known for its strong currents and marine life.
Date: 7 November 2015. Distance: 35km Duration: 11 hours 52 minutes

The Strait of Gibraltar
Description: An iconic swim between Europe (Tarifa, Spain) and Africa (somewhere on the Moroccan coast)
Date: 8 April 2015 Distance: 20km Duration: 4 hours 1minute

The English Channel
Description: Between England and France. The swim is known for its cold water and variable conditions.
Date: 5 July 2012   Distance: 35km   Duration: 16 hours 29 minutes

Congrats to Cameron & his team from the Barbados Open Water Festival! We look forward to welcoming you back to Barbados! #SwimAroundBarbados

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Sargassum Seaweed & Barbados Open Water Festival

6/17/2018

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Since 2011, the Caribean has witnessed an annual upsurge in Sargassum Seaweed, a brown sea weed that lives in the open ocean. 2018 saw record amounts being washed up on beaches throughout the Caribbean and headlines such as “Masses of Seaweed Assault Caribbean Islands” have appeared in news publications. Some open water swimmers may read these articles and decide to change destination for their “swimcation”. The truth is that the Barbados Open Water Festival venue of Carlisle Bay is almost totally unaffected by the seaweed invasion that occurs annually (usually starting around Easter) for a varying period of time. The major effects of the sea weed in Barbados have been felt on the east coast (Photo: Second left, Bath Beach, East coast) and in recent months the south east and parts of the south coast.

Carlisle Bay sits on the south west of the island and sometimes a small amount of sea weed can be seen in the southern portion of the Bay. However the Bay remains magnificent, a tranquil bay with ideal conditions for swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving (Top left: Recent photo of Carlisle Bay from the Boatyard Pier). The west coast of the island has also escaped this natural phenomena of the last few years and beaches remain pristine (Photo, bottom West Coast Beach, end of May 2018, Discovery Bay hotel).

Scientists and oceanographers are studying the factors which may be responsible for stimulating the large "bloom" of the weed in 2018 but no real answers have emerged. The increase in weed has posed problems for some sea life as well including sea turtles and the Barbados Sea Turtle Project has been working overtime recently to help free turtles that have become trapped in some areas along the East coast. Generally the sea weed clears by the end of summer, well ahead of the annual open water swim Festival. The 2018 Barbados Open Water Festival is scheduled for Nov 7-11.
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