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Ecover Blue Mile all set to make waves in Plymouth
Hundreds of people will be taking to the water off Plymouth’s Barbican this weekend as swimmers, paddleboarders and kayakers complete the Ecover Blue Mile in support of the Marine Conservation Society.
The action gets under way with the swimming ‘wave’ on Saturday morning, which has attracted a sizeable entry from Plymouth Leander Swimming Club. The young swimming stars will start their timed one-mile swim in the ‘fast’ wave which starts from Mayflower Steps at 10.30am. Also among the swimmers are BBC Springwatch presenter and marine ecologist Maya Plass and Tim Cresswell from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Three Hungry Boys TV programme.
The first swim wave is at 9am, when enthusiasts will head out from the Barbican on a course which takes them into the Sound off the Hoe and back again.
The swims are followed at 11.30 by the Team Challenge, where each of the three members tackle half a mile in one of the disciplines – swim, paddleboard (SUP) and kayak; and at 1pm by the Aquatriathlon, where competitors complete half a mile in each of the three disciplines.
Sunday is the ‘day of the paddlers’, with kayak and paddleboard races. Each of the two events has a series of sprints and a one mile race, with the scores tallied up to find the kayak and SUP winners.
Throughout the weekend, Plymouth University’s ‘Lab Plus’ tent will be at the Ecover Blue Mile event village on Commercial Wharf, where the public will get the chance to meet some of the university’s robots and to stand inside a giant bubble!
The Marine Conservation Society and its volunteers will also be at the event village to talk about what we can all do to help our seas, shores and wildlife and there is the opportunity to get involved with the charity’s work – including the Great British Beach Clean on 19-22 September.
The annual event is the brainchild of Plymouth-based sailor Conrad Humphreys: “The Ecover Blue Mile is part of the Ocean City Festival and what better way to celebrate our ocean than to actually get out onto the water and make the most of the amazing blue environment we have here in Plymouth.”