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This is where you’ll find the latest information for media wishing to cover Swim Serpentine. The event is organised by London Marathon Events, and held in the beautiful setting of the famous Serpentine in Hyde Park, the venue for the open water swimming competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Photos from the 2023 Swim Serpentine event will be available on request. Please contact the Press Office to request images.
Swim Serpentine is a one-day open water swimming event held in and around the beautiful Serpentine in Hyde Park. It provides the rare opportunity to swim in the Serpentine lake, the same venue as the London 2012 Marathon Swimming Olympic event.
First held in 2016, Swim Serpentine returns in 2023 after having been postponed in 2022 for the late Queen's funeral.
Brought to you by the team behind the TCS London Marathon and Ford RideLondon-Essex, the event has become a staple of London’s late summer calendar offering half-mile, one-mile and two-mile distances to cater for a range of ages and abilities.
This year will also see the return of the women’s-only one-mile wave and the Super Six, an impressive six-mile swim which must be done as one continuous swim, although participants will be able to rest at a pontoon should they need to.
The two-mile swim also forms part of the London Classics – a fabled sporting challenge comprising the three toughest London endurance events including the London Marathon, RideLondon 100 and Swim Serpentine. More than 1,000 swimmers are expected to complete the London Classics at this year’s Swim Serpentine.
Human interest pieces
Read some of the inspiring stories from our 2023 Swim Serpentine participants.
Shareefa J
Model Shareefa J, 31, has been inspiring youngsters to take up fitness challenges for many years, having faced several barriers accessing exercise opportunities growing up. As Swim Serpentine approaches, she describes the long and difficult road to becoming a confident swimmer and shares her love for the open water.
Minreet Kaur
After recently discovering a love for open water swimming – Minreet Kaur describes her journey and the benefits of the sport ahead of next month’s Swim Serpentine.
Nahla Mahmoud
Nahla Mahmoud grew up in Sudan and always wanted to swim in the river Nile, but due to cultural and societal restrictions was not able to fulfil that dream. Now, as a Scotland-based activist and ambassador for Bloody Good Period, a charity that fights for menstrual equity, she has not only learnt to swim as an adult but is working to inspire more women to embrace swimming.
Peigh Asante
Peigh Asante is one of the co-founders of Swim Dem Crew – an inner-city swim club, which believes in the power of community. He describes how the club in London has grown ahead of his two-mile distance at Swim Serpentine.
Calum Hudson
Calum Hudson describes how wild swimming has reconnected him to his childhood passion and nature and his excitement at taking on the “big, iconic” Swim Serpentine, which falls on his birthday in 2023.
Tracy Meharg
Being unable to swim as a child and suffering from water phobia, it was only when Tracy Meharg became a mum that she learnt to swim. Now she's taking on her first big swimming event at Swim Serpentine on Saturday 16 September, where she aims to complete the two-mile distance and achieve her London Classics medal.
For more information, please email the Swim Serpentine Press Office at media@londonmarathonevents.co.uk