Ballyholme Seals

Ballyholme Yacht Club will be hosting Open Water Swimming again this summer in association with members of the Eddie Skelly Memorial Swim and Bangor Swimming Club. Many triathletes use the swims as part of their training.

We cater for all abilities, however you must be aged 16+ or have written permission from your parents/guardians.

Swimming is from Ballyholme Yacht Club’s South Slipway out and around inflatable buoys and back to the shore. There will be kayaks and safety boats in attendance. Swimmers can use the changing rooms and hot showers afterwards within Ballyholme Yacht Club.

Swimmers must wear bright swim caps. Shoes are recommended for the slip way and around the dinghy parks. You can purchase a Ballyholme Seals cap for £5 – we have different colours for different levels of swim ability from Gold to Red to Blue so that we can keep a closer check on those starting Open Water Swimming. You can choose which colour of cap you feel comfortable with.

We also allow non-wetsuited swimmers who are training for non-wetsuit races or long distance challenges such as the North Channel. Non-wetsuited swimmers should be experienced open water swimmers and must register that they understand the risks of swimming in cold water. Nobody should try non-wetsuited swimming without first acclimatising themselves. Safety is our number one concern and our Safety Officer(s) may refuse you entry or ask you to leave the water if they see you at risk. Non wetsuited swimmers may still want to wear one-piece suits to avoid jellyfish stings etc if present.

The safety briefing time is 6:45pm for a 7.00pm swim. Everyone must remember to sign in and sign out each night.

We are always looking for more volunteers to help with registration and kayaking this year with increasing numbers expected yet again. Please contact the club if you would like to help out.

2019 Calendar

This year we are starting earlier and now have 18 Monday evening “Sea Swims” scheduled from Monday 6th May until 2nd September 2019. Spectators are most welcome.

The season will finish with the Big Bay Swim on Sunday 8th September (entry not included) with a bbq and entertainment afterwards.

At the time of writing, we haven’t as yet got details of the Peninsula Triathlon or Eddie Skelly Memorial Swims.

Online entry – closes at 4pm each Monday (paper registrations are available at the club but we encourage pre-entries where possible)

We strongly recommend that you register and pay online for all 18 swims – £60.00 for adults and £30.00 for under 18’s – to make organisation much simpler. Alternatively you can pay £5.00 on each night.  Online registration closes at 4pm each Monday for the one-off swims.

Please choose your ticket below and click on all the swims that you plan to attend. This will also create a calendar reminder for you.

Ballyholme Yacht Club Membership

Members* get free Open Water Swimming alongside the other benefits of joining the club – sailing, scuba diving, kayaking – plus our many social events and ability to hire our function rooms for parties etc. Join now and get 50% discount off your first year – Seniors just £144 or Families £222.97. Click here for more details

• excludes Social Associates