We are delighted to share that OxfordTri’s Open Water Familiarisation Sessions will be returning in May 2025! With some new Wednesday Evening sessions.

For over 10 years our fully qualified coaches have helped 100s of athletes develop their confidence in open water, helping them see the swim leg in a triathlon as an experience to look forward to rather than dread.

Located at the Queenford Lake just south of Oxford, these sessions are designed for anyone who can confidently swim in a pool. Whether you’re new to swimming in open water, felt overwhelmed in the past, or are looking to refine your skills with expert guidance – this is the place for you!

Our sessions will include focusing on helping you acclimatize to the water, mastering breathing techniques, and becoming comfortable with having your face in the water. Our goal is to have you feel more confident swimming in open water and equipped with the skills to conquer the triathlon swim leg or simply enjoy more open water swimming.

We run the session in small groups with multiple coaches and experienced swimmers in the water with you so athletes can progress at the right pace for them.

We hope to make your experience fun and social and would love you to join us after at the Wandering kitchen for a warming coffee and bacon roll or cake post swim!

Sign up early as these sessions are hugely popular and last year completely sold out. Hence we’ve managed to add an extra session this year

Sessions this year are incredibly competitively priced at £20 per session. Which will include a free swim cap per each participant. 

How to sign up?

In order to sign up to any of our session first need to complete our ‘OxfordTri Open Water Familiarisation Sessions 2025 – Participant Form’. On it’s own this doesn’t enable you to attend any sessions but helps us to store vital emergency details and gauge your swimming ability.

You can complete the form here

** Please note that if you are an existing member of OxfordTri you don’t need to complete this form to participate in these sessions**

After this you can sign up for the sessions using the links below.

Wednesday Evenings 7pm-8pm

21st Open Water Familiarisation Session

28th Open Water Familiarisation Session

Sunday Mornings 8am-9am

17th Open Water Familiarisation Session

24th Open Water Familiarisation Session

31st Open Water Familiarisation Session

What do I need?

In order to participate in our Open Water Familiarisation Sessions, you must have the following items: 

  • Wetsuit
  • Googles
  • Tow Float 

We will have some spare googles and tow floats, however these will be limited and if we run out, we may not be able to permit you entry to the session.

We also ask that participants are able to swim a minimum of 400m (16 lengths of a 25m pool).  As a guideline this distance would be covered in approximately 12 mins with at least 100m swum non stop.  Meeting this standard will ensure members benefit from the sessions and most importantly have fun and enjoy themselves.

If you do have any questions about the sessions please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@oxfordtri.co.uk

Open Water FAQs