Name: The Welsh Winter Swim 2026
Start: 2026-02-22T09:00:00+00:00
Location: Llyn Padarn Lake, Llanberis

The Welsh Winter Swim,
Llanberis, North Wales, UK
22nd February 2026
Brave the icy waters of Llyn Padarn at the coldest time of the year!
With views of ice covered Mount Snowdon, The Welsh Winter Swim includes short individual races of 50m, 100m, 250m and a tough 500m endurance challenge. Enter a single event or multiple races and you’ll receive a unique Welsh slate souvenir for each distance you complete!
Please remember the water will be very cold (approx 3-8 degrees) and it is essential that you acclimatise to cold water swimming sufficiently before taking part in these races.
Wetsuit and non-wetsuit entries are available.
The Categories:
- Challenge swim = Swim fast or chill out and chat – swim any stroke you like.
- Head up breaststroke = the traditional cold water swimming style allowing swimmers to compete in cold conditions without getting brain freeze! The rules are simple – you must ensure that your eyes do not go below the water level at any time during the race. Swimmers are encouraged to wear a warm hat for this race, or get crafty and create their own head wear – the more wacky the better. There will be a winner of ‘Best Hat of the Day’: our themes this year are ‘Environment’ or ‘World Peace’. (Please consider the environment when making/purchasing hats and make sure that any hat you wear will not cause any pollution to the lake – no bits that can fall off or glitter etc – thank you!)
- Inflatables = This is fun event where you must complete the 50m on an inflatable.
Events/Distances:
- 50m Inflatables
- 50m Challenge swim
- 50m Heads up
- 100m Challenge swim
- 100m Heads up
- 250m Challenge swim
- 250m Heads up
- 500m Challenge swim – this will be a tough event for very experienced cold water swimmers only.
- 1km Challenge swim – this will be an extreme event for very experienced cold water swimmers only.
There will be a warm indoor cafe and changing space with showers for you to use but you will be outdoors for the majority of the event so please come prepared with towelling robes, warm robes, warm hats, flasks of warm drink etc.
Wetsuit and non-wetsuit places are available!
Check out our other open water swimming events too!
For more information and to enter:
https://loveswimrun.co.uk/the-welsh-winter-swim/