Swim Serpentine 2025

ZONE3 was proud to be the Official Swim Sponsor of Swim Serpentine 2025. We were helping swimmers feel confident, comfortable, and ready to go.

As part of the support:

• We offered wetsuit rental, perfect for anyone new to open water or just looking to stay warm.

• We also provided tow float rentals to keep swimmers safe and visible throughout the event.
  
  

The team was on-hand to help with fittings, answer questions, and calm a few pre-race nerves. For us, it’s never just about kit, it’s about helping people enjoy the day, feel proud of their progress, and keep moving forward.

One of the best things about Swim Serpentine is how inclusive it feels because there are a variety of swim distances to sign up to.

So you’ve got seasoned triathletes, casual swimmers, fundraisers, and complete first-timers all sharing the same course.

This year, you could choose between:

• Half-mile (approx. 800m) – Short and sweet, ideal for new swimmers or those easing into open water.

• One mile – The most popular choice, and a great stepping stone for anyone building up race confidence.

• Two miles – A real challenge for those looking to push the distance.

• Super Six (6 miles) – An endurance test, plain and simple.

No matter the distance, everyone came out of the water smiling!

Ale Romero: "I’ve been open water swimming for about five years now, mostly at the West Reservoir in Hackney, but this summer has been a little different. After 18 months of knee pain and eventually surgery, what was meant to be a short recovery turned into a nine-month rehab journey.

While I had to put my triathlon season on hold, I was grateful that I could always swim! About six weeks ago I decided to fully focus on swimming, I joined Tower Hamlets Swim Club, and it’s been an incredible experience so far, both in terms of community and seeing real progress in my swim.

And of course The Swim Serpentine felt like something I just couldn’t miss, one of the London classic! I got there early, spent some time in the Zone3 tent, grabbed a coffee, and soaked in the amazing atmosphere.

The swim community always has a way of making you feel at home. I had signed up for the last wave of the day, the “fast” wave, and looking at past results I thought I might be in with a shot of swimming near the front.

Once the horn went, I managed to break away from the main pack after about 200m and found myself pacing solo for most of the course. At one point approaching the finish line I got a bit lost and a marshal even sent me back out thinking I was still on my first lap! That cost me some time, but I still managed to hold on and cross the finish line first.

Winning my wave on my first ever Serpentine Swim was a brilliant way to experience such an iconic event, and it’s made me even more excited about what’s to come in this new chapter focusing on swimming."

Chloe Dooley: "Swim Serpentine, the final piece to complete my London Classics. That was my clear motivation for taking part in my first swim in Hyde Park’s famous lake, but I had also seen the event running for the last few years and grow in popularity, so naturally I had to see what all the hype was about.

I’ve been swimming since I was a kid, and open water swimming for triathlon more recently in the last 5 years. I’d describe myself as a fairly confident open water athlete, but I was a bit nervous about the cold water with the event being held at the end of September.

The afternoon was a lovely mix of catching up with friendly faces, some pre-race coffee and snacks and a quick warm up in the start pen. I was in the middle of moving house and hadn’t even had chance to think about the swim until that morning, but the event team did a great job of getting us all excited to enter the water for our 2 miles around the Serpentine. The start was much faster than I expected, and I quickly managed to find the feet of some faster swimmers to pull me around the first lap.

I swam in my Vanquish X wetsuit which offers a great balance of flexibility and buoyancy. Before I knew it, we were rounding the final buoy and heading for the finish straight. As I stumbled out the water and stopped my watch, I heard the announcer congratulate me as the fastest woman out of the water, I had no idea throughout the swim I was leading so that was a lovely surprise to finish the event on.

After a warm drink and a quick change, I went and collected my London classics medal and cheered on the final swimmers completing there event. A big thankyou to Zone3 for having me along at the event, I hope to go back next year and see if I can chase a faster time!"

Sam Lake: "I have been racing competitively in swimming pools since I was 7 and love it. Over the past 5 years or so I have transferred this passion to open water, most recently winning the national masters open water championships at Rother Valley and World Aquathlon Age Group Championships in Slovakia - I just love the freedom and vastness of ocean and lake swimming compared to pool racing. There really is nothing quite like it!

I arrived at the Serpentine about an hour beforehand to soak up the atmosphere and watch others swimming which was great. The event was so well organised.

When we got to the start to line up it was great to see long time swim buddy Cassie Pattern giving us the safety brief talk. After the race, she said she thought my sighting was 'spot on' during the swim, which is very high praise indeed from an Olympic 10km open water medalist! Chuffed to say the least. Thanks to my new Zone3 Venator X goggles I could see with such clarity.

Onto the 2 lap race - I was worried about the cold but actually, once I got going it was fine, my Zone3 VanquishX wetsuit felt so comfortable, like a second skin for my shoulders.

The start was very busy - I felt like I was in a washing machine. This soon calmed down though and I was able to get into a nice rhythm, I was then conscious that we were catching the wave beforehand so tried to carefully weave between those swimmers. It actually made the swim go quite quickly because there was lots to concentrate on.

The Swim consisted of two loops, the first corner came fairly quickly, then on the longer section, it felt long but the buoys helped to focus on something ahead. The hardest part was battling the wind and low sun in my eyes! (Thankfully my goggles adapted to the light.) 

Once I swam past the start for the 2nd lap it was plain sailing to the finish dodging a few ducks here and there in the process. Cramp started to set in on the last 500m or so, but I kept it at bay.

So happy to finish 4th overall out of approximately 2500 women!"

Sam's top tip: trust your own sighting, never follow someone else, make sure you look up every 4 to 5 strokes to ensure you're on track. 

Emma Joy: “I have only been open water swimming for the last few years. I got into it because I had signed up to my first ever spring triathlon back in 2022.

I was always a runner, and was unable to front crawl when I first started training for my triathlon, so I had to take on lessons. I had to drop the ego and start from scratch.

After months of learning how to get the basics, I could then swim freely in the pool. I then went to London Victoria docks for the first time and got into the open water. I was so frightened, I held onto the step and just dipped my head into the water for a few seconds, then had a breather and decided that was enough. I knew it was going to take a while to be comfortable in open water.

I continued to push myself and get myself into the docks, going a little bit further each time. Starting out with a length, then two, then finally going around the buoys. When I was able to do a full lap around the buoys, I was elated.

Once I completed my sprint triathlon, I felt like I was ready for more, and signed up to my first ever Ironman 70.3. I knew this would be a challenge, so I then got myself into different bodies of water and challenged myself to go further. Over time, it became more comfortable, even though it was scary to put myself in those scenarios.

I first completed Swim Serpentine in 2023 and absolutely loved the event. It was a great practice to do the two mile swim in the lead up to my big 70.3 event. If I could swim two miles alone, I could do the 2k swim in the triathlon. I did really well and even collected my London Classics medal.

This year, the focus has been on running, but I didn’t want to lose my swim fitness after building this up over the years. So I made a promise that I would continue to swim, but as someone who is motivated by races, I decided it was best to sign up to a swim event to keep me on track.

When the offer of Swim Serpentine came up with Zone3, I had to jump at the opportunity as it meant I could keep swimming alongside my running and have a fun event to look forward to.

The day itself, was fairly stressful to start with as I was late but then there were other factors at play.
This year has been stressful in itself, so having confidence in myself has been a challenge, and when I got into the water, it was quite fresh, and it definitely sparked some worry that I wouldn’t be comfortable.

I was getting those old school fears back, and I had to learn to keep a calm mindset in the water. Once I calmed myself down, I was able to finish my race strong and feel proud in completing the two mile swim, in 1:15. I was so glad I got to enjoy the experience and also be happy that the kit got me through the cold waters!"

Liv Meddings: "Swim Serpentine certainly lived up to expectations. This was my 4th attempt at taking part - I’d previously secured a much coverted Super Six entry but with State funerals, an algae deferral and then finally me getting covid, I never made it to the start line.

Finally this was my year - I completed the 2 mile swim. Super slick organisation meant it was a very low stress, easily navigable event. From large changing rooms and clear bag drops to water buckets to dunk your goggles, everything had been thought about.

A steady flow of swimmers throughout the day offered people the opportunity to swim at their own pace without pressure.
The commentators offered great support to the swimmers - getting everyone set for their swim. Their energy didn’t lapse all day!

Swimming often isn’t the greatest spectator sport but the set up enabled supporters to get up close the the start/finish line and also get close to the action around the perimeter of the lake (although actually identifying your swimmer isn’t easy!)

I'm so pleased to have completed my London Classics - it’s not something I was initially aware of until I was told about it. You earn this incredibly large, heavy medal once you’ve completed Ride London, the London Marathon and swim Serpentine. These can be done years apart, there’s no time limit.

I’ve worked out this is my 6th year of open water swimming. Until this year I’ve been a wetsuit wearing swimmer for open water events but I’ve recently done some longer events in skins to challenge myself differently (plus I swim skins when I take part in Ice Swimming Championships)

I had a great time, I loved the swim.
Next year I will be on it as soon as places go live as I have to tick that Super Six box … probably skins!"

Liv's top tips: A bit of tinsel (or something distinctive) on your tow float will make spotting you easier for your spectators, plus giving them your predicted swim time helps them get into place to celebrate as you cross the finish line.

Sue Wilson: "I've been open water swimming since April 2019 and I have clocked up nearly 1000 swims over these few years. I am a recreational skins swimmer, swimming in The Thames through all 12 months of the year.

I wanted to do Swim Serpentine to challenge myself with a longer distance and a more consistent and measured technique.

I entered the 2 mile event and was confident I could complete it, and my aim was sub 2 hours and I did it in 1hr 51minutes.

I was running a bit behind time for my 'blue' wave at 9.20am and the organisation of the event was totally superb as I was changed, bag dropped and ready to swim within about 10 minutes of arriving! A bit of a record for a total faffer like me.

While waiting with my Blue hat cohort, I ate my pre-swim banana and relaxed into the atmosphere. It was great to see the choice of different swimming speeds, with really easy to understand bandings. I chose leisurely and watched all the speedy swimmers drop in and off they went. Then it was my turn. The water was not cold, but like a cool familiar embrace. I steadied my breathing and settled into my breastroke.

For the first lap I swam mostly with a lovely lady called Emma, who was also competing on her own. It was nice to chat the distance away. Towards the end of my first lap, I put my head down and picked up the pace with some front crawl. The second lap went quickly and soon I was coming up to the finshing line - but I now have a nice big bruise on my knee as I swam straight in to the finishing ramp!

I absolutely love my medal - it was handed over with such huge congratulations - I didn't take it off until I went to bed.

I'm a Swim Coordinator for a swim school and I was conducting gala time trails that same afternoon, the kids were intrigued and excited to see me wearing a medal on poolside!"

Sue's top tip: If you've been debating how to get into open water swimmingm, just get out there and swim, build up slowly and gradually challenge yourself to do more and more. Join a group for mutual support and encouragement. If you are in South West London then come and swim with me!

Joe Cooper: "Swim Serpentine is the ultimate open water swim event, it’s iconic to have thousands of swimmers so centrally in London. Zone3’s kit gave me the confidence to push hard across the 2 mile course, which was great practice for my upcoming triathlons. I’m proud to come away with one of the fastest swims of the day, and even more grateful to have been part of such a fantastic celebration of a sport I have always loved."

Hannah Reiterfit: "Just a week after Ironman Weymouth 70.3, where the swim was unfortunately cancelled, I finally got my swimming fix with Zone3 at the Serpentine Swim. The atmosphere was incredible, with so much energy from everyone, an experience that was impossible not to enjoy! Kitted out in a Zone3 wetsuit and goggles, I went to the start line feeling excited. To my surprise, the 3.2km flew by, even though it was the furthest I’d ever swam. The support from spectators and fellow swimmers was amazing, and I’m already looking forward to it next year."