Chillswim Guided Windermere Swims

10.5 miles One Way, 21 miles Two Way or 5 miles Half Way

Chillswim have guided more swimmers than any other provider with over 500 swimmers making successful one-way and two-way length of lake Windermere swims. This is one of the blue riband challenges for an open water swimmer and a successful completion is something to cherish.

Chillswim only uses local pilots who know the lakes with intricate detail, this is particularly useful on early misty mornings or days with poor visibility. We operate 1:1 solo guided swims but can also accommodate pairs or groups of three swimmers (n.b. wetsuits are optional for all Guided Swims).

To book your Chillswim Windermere Guided Swim for 2024 CLICK below;

We operate one boat per day on the lake and when you make your booking you will pay a non-refundable £200 deposit to secure the day for your swim in the calendar. The balance of your payment must be made not less than 4 weeks prior to the date you have booked, you will receive instructions on how to make the second payment in plenty of time.

To see the available dates click on the BOOK NOW button on the entry site, any dates that are already taken will be marked as ‘Sold out’.

What else do you need to know?

Once you are registered for the swim, you will receive an automatic email confirmation from the entry site and then approx 4-6 weeks prior to your swim we will send you a full briefing document about the challenge. Your pilot will also call you a few days in advance to talk about the weather and meeting times, locations, etc.

Prices for Guided swims with Chillswim are:

Solo Windermere Swim (one person, one way) £675
Solo Windermere Swim (one person, two way) £875
(n.b. no 2 Way swims after 10th Sept due to daylight hours & if 14hrs+ swim time an additional charge of £300 applies)
Two people Windermere Swim (one way, swimming together or relay) £775
Two people Windermere Swim (two way, swimming together or relay) £975
(n.b. no 2 Way swims after 10th Sept due to daylight hours & if 14hrs+ swim time an additional charge of £300 applies)
Three people Windermere Swim (one way, swimming together or relay) £875
Three people Windermere Swim (two way, swimming together or relay) £1075
(n.b. no 2 Way swims after 10th Sept due to daylight hours & if 14hrs+ swim time an additional charge of £300 applies)

Booking Protection:

When you book your date it is possible to protect your deposit payment by choosing to include the optional Booking Protect insurance during the entry process. If, due to specific circumstances like illness, injury or relocation you are unable to attend your swim it may be possible to recover 100% of your entry fee through your Booking Protect insurance (n.b. this option is only available at the time of booking and will only cover your deposit of £200).

Support person:

Each swimmer needs a support person on the boat – you can have up to 3 people supporting you on solo swims. If you need a support person provided, we can arrange someone for £90 one-way and £180 two way (just let us know well in advance to arrange).

The Chillswim Guided Swim Service includes:

Chillswim’s rib boat
RYA powerboat level 2 pilot with 10+ years experience of guiding swimmers on Windermere
Chillswim Windermere trophy
Live GPS tracking
Results displayed on Chillswim website
Personalised certificate

Swim dates and times:

Dates for 2024 can be found HERE

We operate guided swims between the end of May and September when the water temperature is typically somewhere between 14 and 24 degrees. The warmest water in recent years has typically been in July, but this is by no means is guaranteed! Our Guided Swims typically start between 0600-0700hrs, when the lake is at its quietest, enabling the swimmer to make good progress before the commercial ferries begin operating and other motorised vessels operate. We tend to have most of our guided swims on week days to avoid sailing galas, motorboat events, and the general high boat traffic that a tourist destination such as Lake District attracts.

Medical certificate:

Open water is a strenuous exercise. To avoid any doubt in your health and fitness, you should undertake a medical check-up including an ECG test before starting training for this event. The medical must be signed by your GP, state reference to your intended swim, and be uploaded onto the entry system no later than 4 weeks before your swim.
Please do not post hard copies to us. If you have been ill or have experienced a change in your wellbeing or physical state such as pregnancy since your medical, please consult a doctor.

Is there a time limit?

There is no time limit within which to complete your swim. Typically swimmers complete the length between 3 hours 40 mins (Hector Pardoe 2023), and 8 hours for a one way. However, for safety reasons of the pilot and swimmer, if the swimmer is expected to take greater than 14 hours on a two way swim, an additional boat pilot will be required. The fee for greater than 14 hours is an additional £300, payable 4 weeks prior to swim along with the balance payment. Please contact us if you think you may fall into this category.

Assessment Swims for English Channel Swimming qualifying swims:

There are strict criteria for your 6 hour (solo) qualifying swim or 2 hour (relay) swims by the Channel Swimming & Pilot Federation (CS&PF) and Channel Swimming Association (CSA). Please check requirements with your channel swimming provider and we will ensure your swim is run under Channel Swimming Rules.