Bog snorkelling
 Competitor of the World Bog Snorkelling Championship | |
| First played | 1976, Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Characteristics | |
| Team members | Single competitors |
| Mixed gender | Yes, but in separate leagues |
| Type | Outdoor, aquatic |
| Equipment | Snorkel and flippers |
| Venue | Water-filled trench cut through a peat bog |
Bog snorkelling is a sporting event in which competitors complete, in the shortest time possible, two consecutive lengths of a water-filled trench cut through a peat bog. Competitors must wear snorkels and flippers and complete the course without using conventional swimming strokes, relying on flipper power alone. A wetsuit is not compulsory, but is often worn.
The length of the trench is 60 yards (55 m), traversed twice for a course of 120 yards (110 m).[1]
The current world record was set by Neil Rutter at the Waen Rydd bog, Llanwrtyd Wells on 26 August 2018. Time 1 min 18.81 secs.
Paddy Lambe finished the Irish championship event in a time of 1:19 in September 2016.
History of bog snorkelling
The activity of bog snorkelling was started in 1976 near Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, United Kingdom. It began as a result of an over-the-bar conversation in The Neuadd Arms between Gordon Green and a few regulars.
World Bog Snorkelling Championship
The World Bog Snorkelling Championship, first held in 1985, takes place every August Bank Holiday in the dense Waen Rydd peat bog, near Llanwrtyd Wells in mid Wales. In 2018 Neil Rutter smashed the previous world record held by Kirsty Johnston when he returned a time of 1 min 18.81 secs.
Elinor MacCormac (1 min 48.46) is the 2018 Ladies Champion. The ladies' champion 2017, Jess Fidler, had a time of 1 min 41.87 secs. Paddy Lambe, the 2016 Irish champion, set a time at the Irish Bog Snorkelling Championships in September 2016 of 1:19, a new world record for bog snorkelling. The Irish event in 2016 was also the first time a brother and sister won the national championship in the same year. Moira Lambe, Paddy's sister, won the ladies' event in the same year.[2]
Other bog snorkelling events take place, particularly in Wales, but also in Australia, Ireland, and Sweden. Associated events include the associated mountain bike bog snorkelling, where competitors must ride through the bog on specially prepared mountain bikes, and the Bog Snorkelling Triathlon, which consists of a 60-yard (110 metre) Snorkel, a 12-mile (31 kilometre) bike ride and an 8-mile run.[3][4]
Proceeds from the championship go to a local charity each year. Charities include the Cystic Fibrosis Trust (2005) and the Motor Neurone Association (2006). The 2006 charity was chosen in memory of the Green Events treasurer, Ron Skilton, who died in December 2005.[5]
Results
| Men's world champions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Champion | Time (min + secs) |
| 2018 | Neil Rutter | 1 min 18.81 secs |
| 2017 | Neil Rutter | 1 min 26.15 secs |
| 2016 | Daniel Norman | 1 min 26.38 secs |
| 2015 | : Haydn Pitchforth | 1 min 26.00 secs |
| 2014 | Craig Pedley | 1min 33.25 secs |
| 2013 | David Williams | 1 min 32.68 secs |
| 2012 | Richard Addis | 1 min 26 secs (new world record) |
| 2011 | Andrew Holmes | 1 min 29 secs [6] |
| 2010 | Dan Morgan | 1 min 30.06 secs [7] |
| 2009 | Conor Murphy | 1 min 42.30 secs |
| 2008 | Conor Murphy | 1 min 38.09 secs |
| 2007 | Robert Liscoe | 1 min 43 secs |
| 2006 | Haydn Pitchforth | 1 min 41.42 secs |
| 2005 | Iain Hawkes | 1 min 46.03 secs |
| 2004 | Phillip John | : 1 min 38 secs |
| 2003 | Phillip John | 1 min 35.46 secs |
| 2002 | Phillip John | 1 min 45 secs |
| 2001 | cancelled due to Foot and Mouth Disease | |
| 2000 | Jem Crook | 1 min 39 secs [8] |
| 1999 | Peter Owen | 1 min 52 secs |
| 1998 | Craig Napper | 1 min 53 secs |
| 1997 | Peter Beaumont | 1 min 44 secs |
| 1996 | Jonathan Maiden | 2 min 12 secs |
| 1995 | Cancelled due to drought | |
| 1994 | Stephen Madelin | |
| 1993 | Sian Evans | |
| 1992 | Janet Tyler | |
| 1991 | Sian Evans | |
| 1990 | Sian Evans | |
| 1989 | Stephen Madelin | |
| Women's world champions | ||
| 2018 | Elinor MacCormac | 1 min 48.46 secs |
| 2017 | Jess Fidler | 1 min 41.87 secs |
| 2016 | Anna Lohman (Swe) | 1 min 33.10 secs |
| 2015 | Eva Jonasson (Swe) | 1 min 31.03 secs |
| 2014 | Kirsty Johnson | 1 min 22.56 secs (new world record) |
| 2013 | Dineka Maguire | 1 min 23.13 secs |
| 2012 | Dineka Maguire | 1 min 26.97 secs |
| 2011 | Dineka Maguire | |
| 2010 | Dineka Maguire | 1 min 31.90 secs |
| 2009 | Laura Smith | 1 min 51.00 secs |
| 2008 | Kirsty Brown | 1 min 53.12 secs |
| 2007 | Joanne Pitchforth | 1 min 35.18 secs |
| 2006 | Alexis Howe | 1 min 45 secs |
| 2005 | Heidi French | 1 min 48.65secs |
| 2004 | Terry Avery | |
| 2000 | Daria Kokoszko | |
| 1998 | Clare Davies | |
Junior
- 2017 – Junior World Champion : Anna Ley-Gill : 1 min 53.81 secs
- 2016 – Junior World Champion : Tom Murphy : 1 min 41.00
- 2015 – Junior World Champion : Megan Davies : 1 min 54.84
- 2014 – Junior World Champion : Emma Pitchforth : 1 min 26.81 (world record for Juniors)
- 2013 – Junior World Champion : Jack Everist
- 2012 – Junior World Champion : Dineka Maguire : 1 min 26.97 secs
- 2011 – Junior World Champion : Dineka Maguire
- 2010 – Junior World Champion : John Lydeard
- 2009 – Junior World Champion : Beccy Lord : 1 min 41.56 secs
- 2008 – Junior World Champion : Laura Smith : 1 min 51.21 secs
- 2007 – Junior World Champion : George Murphy : 1 min 35 secs
- 2006 – Junior World Champion : William Schofield : 1 min 48 secs
- 2005 – Junior World Champion :
- 2004 – Junior World Champion : Gareth Madelin
- 2003 – Junior World Champion : Gareth Madelin
- 1999 – Junior World Champion : Joanne Wallace : 1 min 53 secs
- 1997 – Junior World Champion : Al Hudson
- 1996 – Junior World Champion :
Children's
- 2016 – Children's World Champion : Tilly Smith : 2 min 14.24 secs (world record for children)
Local Men's
- 2017 – Local Champion :
- 2016 – Local Champion : Adrian Matthew
- 2015 – Local Champion : Alex Creak
- 2010 – Local Champion : Tony Bain
- 2004 – Local Champion : Nick Bridgeman
Local Women's
- 2018 - Local Women's Champion ; Emma Wright
- 2017 – Local Women's Champion : Claire Horniblow
- 2016 – Local Women's Champion : Betsy Creak
- 2010 – Local Women's Champion : Kelly Fuller
- 2004 – Local Women's Champion : Becky Jones
References
- ↑ Irish Bog Snorkelling (2009). World Record Smashed Twice!! 1st ever Irish Bog Snorkelling Championships a Huge Success. Irish Bog Snorkelling. Retrieved on 2012-07-29 from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2012. .
- ↑ "Mayhem in the muck at bog snorkelling championship - Independent.ie". Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ↑ "World Bog Snorkelling Championship". Retrieved January 2010. Check date values in:
|accessdate=(help) - ↑ "Teenager in bog snorkelling record". Belfasttelegraph. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ↑ "Llanwrtyd Wells Bog Snorkelling site". Archived from the original on 14 December 2007.
- ↑ "Andrew Holmes sets new world bog snorkelling record". BBC News. 28 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ↑ "Llanwrtyd Wells bog snorkel has new world record time". BBC News. 29 August 2010.
- ↑ "Bog snorkellers set new world record". BBC News. 28 August 2000.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bog snorkelling. |