Two days. Wall-to-wall Devon sunshine. Around 1,600 swimmers across two swims on the most beautiful stretch of coast in the country. £350,000 raised and counting, almost £100,000 more than last year.

That will fund somewhere in the region of 23,000 adapted swimming lessons for disabled children. And at this event more than any other, you could see exactly who those lessons are for. But we’ll come to that.

Bantham is our flagship. It’s the most sought-after ticket in outdoor swimming, and when entries for 2026 opened, they were gone in half an hour. Stand on that beach on a July morning, and you'll understand why.

Last year, the river said no. Water quality on the Dart forced our hand, and there are few harder things than telling hundreds of swimmers, people who had trained all winter through dark mornings and cold water, that the swim couldn't go ahead.

So we didn't simply restage it. The team went to work and gave this iconic event the facelift it deserved, and the chance to be its best self. Ferries, a new finish, the whole event redrawn.

The biggest change came at the top of the river. The swim now starts at Sharpham, rather than Totnes, and this isn't a cosmetic change: water quality at the new start is between ten and thirty times better than at the old one. The same legendary river, the same bucket-list distance, the same deckchairs and hot chocolate, but cleaner water under every stroke.

Last year we asked Cambridge to swim through the night for Level Water. This year, Cambridge said "again, but bigger." 45 teams pitched their tents, packed their pizza money, and set their alarms for absolutely no sensible hour, all in aid of getting more disabled children into the water. The result? A second Jesus Green Dusk till Dawn that out-partied, out-splashed, and out-lasted the first, and a fundraising total that's still climbing past £45,000.

Twenty-four hours. One lake. 400 hundred people in swimming costumes and wetsuits dancing on picnic tables. And it's only the first event of the season.

There are plenty of sensible ways to kick off a fundraising season. A breakfast meeting. A tidy spreadsheet. A nicely worded email. We chose 24 hours of non-stop swimming in a lake, a brass band, and fancy dress. Honestly? Best decision we ever made.