Swim

Great North Swim

Great North Swim takes place on Fri, Jun 11, 2027 in Windermere, United Kingdom. The main route is 10 km.

The Coventry Building Society Great North Swim is a weekend-long open water swimming festival held at Brockhole on Windermere in the Lake District.

What this race demands

The Great North Swim requires sustained aerobic endurance over a 10 km open water distance in Windermere during June.

Aerobic endurance

Swimming continuously for 10 km demands high cardiovascular capacity and the ability to maintain pace over an extended duration.

Open water proficiency

Competing in Windermere requires comfort with open water conditions, sighting, and pacing without the structure of lane lines.

Thermoregulation

A June swim in the Lake District requires adaptation to open water temperatures and sustained immersion over a long duration.

Race day at Great North Swim is 42 weeks away. This is how a coach divides that time. The first phase starts now.

01Base30 weeks · Aug 22, 2026 – Mar 19, 2027
Aerobic foundation: mostly steady endurance work that grows the aerobic engine and the durability the later phases stand on.
02Build6 weeks · Mar 20, 2027 – Apr 30, 2027
Progressive overload: training load climbs in waves, with harder weeks stacked on the base and planned recovery weeks that let the gains land.
03Peak3 weeks · May 1, 2027 – May 21, 2027
The hardest weeks of the plan: race-specific intensity at nearly full training load, sharpening exactly what this race asks for.
04Taper2 weeks · May 22, 2027 – Jun 4, 2027
Volume drops while intensity stays: short, sharp efforts keep the legs awake as fatigue drains away.
05Race week1 week · Jun 5, 2027 – Jun 11, 2027
Openers, rest and logistics. The work is done; the job now is arriving fresh.

Organising this race?