Lulworth Cove to Weymouth Swim

This is the international ten-mile swim from Lulworth Cove to Weymouth held on 14th July 1966 and won by Geoffrey Lake. The swim also has a return leg setting out from Weymouth and held since 1951. According to the Channel Swimming and Piloting Association Geoffrey went on to swim the English Channel in 1967 in a time of 15 hours and 21 minutes. Here, swimmers depart Lulworth Cove and take in Stair Hole and Durdle Door before being greeted by crowds along the front at Weymouth.

Lulworth Cove is almost a perfect circle and Durdle Door is an arch of Portland stone. Since 2001 this area forms the UNESCO World Heritage Site for its geology and is known as the Jurassic Coast stretching 96 miles from Old Harry Rocks Studland Bay near Swanage in Dorset to Orcombe Point near Exmouth in Devon and has a continuous sequence of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous rock formations spanning the Mesozoic Era and teaming with fossils. Geologists and geographers from around the world are regular visitors and UNESCO teams monitor coastal erosion. The swim is popular with wild swimmers and locals alike and an annual Christmas swim still takes place.