Cold Water Swimming Champs

In the UK they have these things called "Lidos", a lido is essentially a public swimming pool. Tooting has a massive one, it's the biggest outdoor swimming pool in the UK and has quite a history.

The Tooting Bec Lido is home to the South London Cold Water Swimming Championships which were on January 26.

It was a beautifully sunny day so after going for a jog I headed down to see what it's all about.

There was a £2 entry fee which was just the right amount. It was busy, although there wasn't much space so it didn't take too many people to make it busy, a few hundred at least. Many were competitors but plenty of supporters and nosy locals as well.

When I arrived there was a break between races so I scoped out the place before making a bee line for the hog roast tent. I love a hog roast in a bun!

Hog roast, yum

Not long after lunch  the relay races began. The pool is so big they just do widths. Many of the teams wore fancy dress, this wasn't serious racing for most, just a fun day out. Although with the water temp at 2 degrees, and snow still sitting on the side of the pool I'm not quite sure how much fun it would have been.

The races were generally quite low key, the swimmers get a hot cup of something and a hot bath after their race.

I'm not sure if the videos on this page will display in other countries, it's some footage from ITV news

A nice day for a swim

The sun bouncing off the 2 degrees water almost makes you want to jump in!