CSC - Swim Details

OWS in action Chelmarsh’s most recent addition to its water activities.

Swimming was introduced at Chelmarsh in 2021 the emphasis has always been on safety and ensuring members can enjoy our wonderful reservoir and our great facilities. Our swim lead is Charlotte Hewer.

A recent posting on Facebook by the NOWCA quotes:

“The reservoir is a stunning piece of water filled from the River Severn and used for drinking water. A wide range of facilities are available, including onsite parking, a club house and much more!”

Morning Swims

There are swim sessions on Saturday mornings between 07:30 and 09:00. All swim sessions must be pre booked using actio (see below). The season for these morning swims typically runs from the start of April through to the end of October. More information can be found on the calendar and on the OWS FaceBook page.

Evening Swims

There is an evening swim session on Thursdays between 17:00 and 19:00. Again, all swim sessions must be pre booked using actio. The season for these evening swims typically runs for a shorter season from the start of May through to the end of September. More information can be found on the calendar and on the OWS FaceBook page.

All swimmers must be members of NOWCA this provides us an excellent safety system with all swimmers wearing wrist bands and logging into and out of the water (much like park run). NOWCA membership is annual.

Any NOWCA member can book swims at Chelmarsh and there is a swim fee. We offer Chelmarsh memberships, which include sailing, SUP or just swim. All Chelmarsh members have free swimming at Chelmarsh (but all swims must be pre booked).

The club is volunteer run, we are a club not a commercial venue and the club is not for profit. We welcome any offers of help and support. Safety cover and admin for every swim session is provided by the club and we would be happy to train you in these roles.

There are a few basic rules:

Tow float is essential (this is a large and deep piece of open water)
Swim Cap
NOWCA membership and pre booking
Scan in using arm band and scan out immediately on leaving water (to allow us to “head count”)
Minimum water temp 10 degrees for Open course
Wetsuits if water temperature less than 12 degrees for Open course
Cole Water ‘dips’ through the winter with restricted areas
Parking is free but please use car park or gravelled areas in boat park or grass on right hand side (not the area on the left at the top of the slope)
The club is private property and only members or NOWCA guests are allowed
Mutual respect means we do expect politeness. All our activities are volunteer led so please acknowledge and respect people giving their time and respect all fellow swimmers
Respect for the environment and help keep our club ‘green and clean’.
We sometimes take photographs and use these in social media please let us know if this is an issue.

Distances

OWS Map

How to Link your ACTiO and Chelmarsh Accounts

Swimmer club membership request.

Yyou have to do this as we cannot access your NOWCA acouunt. This is where you register as a member of Chelmarsh Swim and then can be linked which will open up discounted swims at Chelmarsh for you as a booking option, we do need to confirm membership of Chelmarsh but usually do this within 24 Hours.

Select 'club listings’ in top menu this will then bring in a list of clubs, click Chelmarsh Swim.
Click 'apply for membership'
This will send an email to the club manager to approve application
Once approved, swimmer will get an email confirmation
Once approved swimmer will see club pricing on ACTiO for booking

Our detailed OWS detail and Risk Registers can be found here on our documents page here.

Membership detail for NOWCA is here:

www.nowca.org

Please ensure you note Chelmarsh as your home club

Membership detail for Chelmarsh can be found here:

www.chelmarshsailing.org.uk/memberships.htm

FAQ’s

What do I do with my car keys whilst swimming?

Car Keys can be left (at your own risk) in a box under the notice board at swim entry control point.

Can I hire a tow float?

We have some tow floats which can be hired for £3 and some can be purchased.

Where do I get a replacement band from?