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Posted: 05 Jul 2010 | Channels:

Supermodel Jodie Kidd makes a splash at British Gas Great London Swim

Jodie took on the one-mile open water challenge along with 5,000 other swimmers at the Royal Victoria Dock near the ExCel centre in London’s East End.

The event also featured elite men’s and women’s races, which produced a feast of world-class sporting action.

Jodie, who had a special lesson from British Olympic swimmer Dave Davies ahead of today’s big challenge, said: “It’s a fantastic event with an amazing atmosphere. I’ve never seen so many swimmers gathered together all in their wetsuits with the one sense of purpose.
“I’ve never really done any outside swimming before and so it was great to get a lesson off Dave. He gave me lots of great tips too, about keeping calms, breathing the right way and saving your legs for the latter stages.”

Jodie swam in the 9am wave – one of 16 waves on the day, each consisting of around 300 swimmers – and was delighted with her time of 40mins 54secs as she had been aiming to complete the course in under an hour.

The British Gas Great Swim Series are all about mass participation and the Great London Swim proved a huge success for the 5,000-plus swimmers who took part, many of whom were swimming for charity – with around £250,000 thought to have been raised overall.