Mixed experience with the dock2dock this year. I have taken part in previous years and find that as it has grown some elements have improved and others have moved away from the original spirit of this event. In the run up to the event I found the event organiser obsession with trying to drive traffic to their poorly designed app very frustrating. There were so many inconsistencies in the channels where information was shared with some updates coming via email and others only coming on the app and others published on the website. In my view this was poor and created a sense of information overwhelm as you had to read multiple streams to get key updates. Race pack pickup was fine and mostly easy. I chose to do this on the Friday and enjoy the pre-event swim they offered. The swim event itself was for the most part enjoyable although as others have mentioned the separation of the two flows was poor and this caused collisions. I would say this should be examined for future instances. Despite a lot of pre-event publicity announcing the importance of the nowca band I did not actually have this checked or scanned once so not quite sure what the point of this was. The finish experience was good and the rewards and gifted items were a nice touch. The practical elements of the event village such as changing areas and toilet facilities were insufficiently provisioned for the scale of the event. Final huge praise for the amazing volunteers who were consistently amazing and full of energy and enthusiasm. They definitely helped make the event.

This was my 3rd Dock2Dock, it is always a well organised event, the course is easy and well marked, basically straight up and down the 2 docks, I always find it a thrill and fascinating to swim along the City Airport, water quality is good. My one comment is the portaloo's, I guess it's difficult to judge, with so many swimmers, and spectators, but there was always a queue! please invest in a couple more for future years

This has to be my favourite open water event of the year, in fact every year ! having completed 15k’s over the last few years the opportunity to do 20k this year I couldn’t resist! The whole event from registration to finish is seamless, feeding stations slick, event village is a happy happy place full of smiling welcoming faces, if you haven’t done a open water event before this is a perfect place to start in a safe , friendly and encouraging environment 😊🏊

Staff on and off the water were fantastic. I felt sick at about 4km and was looked after by a lovely young lady on her kayak. Fortunately sickness passed. Toilets ... should have been more, there were 900+ swimmers and their supporters. I ended up using the hotel. Cheeky but clean!

Dock2Dock 2025 was an absolutely incredible 10th-anniversary celebration in London's Royal Docks, perfectly capturing the vibrant spirit of open water swimming. The volunteers were phenomenal, their encouragement and seamless organisation creating a wonderfully friendly atmosphere that truly reflected the positive attitude of open water swimmers. The brass band added a fantastic, festive touch, filling the docks with energetic music. A truly emotional moment was watching the water safety team escort the last swimmer out, a powerful testament to the event's unwavering support. Being part of the 10-year anniversary celebrations made me incredibly proud, sharing this unique urban swim experience with so many fellow enthusiasts (including the juniors!). This year's event was so energising that my 1.5k swim felt too short! I'm already planning to increase my distance to 5k next year and will definitely be signing up for the Royal Docks Swim Series due to the amazing vibe and superb organisation. To ensure Dock2Dock remains truly inclusive, it's essential to make provisions for larger swimming caps. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work for everyone, and offering larger cap options would ensure all participants feel comfortable and fully included.

The communication was excellent. The changing areas were poor as they were too small for the number of people there. I also didn't see any signs for gendered changing. This meant unceremoniously changing in full view. The effort for safety precautions was very good. I've never had to get membership to ensure safety for a swim event before. However the course wasn't safe. I've got 14 years of experience taking part in open water events and I have never crashed into an oncoming swimmer until this event. The course was a line of buoys which is hazardous as sighting in opposite directions brings different perspectives to "being on the right". It would have been better if it were a rectangle or a triangle of buoys. Speaking with others, I know I'm not the only one to have collided. The aid stations were well organised and the goodies plus medal at the finish were high end! The timing chip was a kind of plastic paper with foam which cut into my ankle. Not like the soft reusable and environ-friendly neoprene ones. The atmosphere for this swim was fun, a brass band were playing pop tunes and food trucks were available. I have mixed feelings as to if I would attend this event again or not.

Fantastic event, my first time and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Pre-event communication, iconic location, warm water, organising team, after-swim goodies were all brilliant! Loved the Squeaky Bean seating area and free food too! A great place to chill out afterwards and chat with fellow swimmers. I normally 'tick the box' and move onto a different challenge each year, although I'm pretty sure I'll be back at Dock2Dock next year! Two areas for improvement that I'd strongly suggest: - Safety Crew: I had the sense throughout my swim that there were insufficient safety kayakers/paddleboarders to really hold the centre line. I kept a tight line to the buoys and swimmers from the opposite direction were able to swim into my path, requiring lots more sighting than normal and which interrupts the flow of your stroke. After I'd make the final turn and was picking up more speed for the final 1k, a guy from the opposite direction crashed head-on into me. Luckily, it was over in seconds, he apologised and I swam on at pace. But, there was no safety kayaker in sight and nor did one appear to see if we were fine. - Finish Pontoon: please, please put the red Finish arch on the pontoon itself facing the swimmer's eye view rather than at the top of the ramp. The pontoon was difficult to discern from the Connaught Bridge itself in the grey overcast day. The whole area seemed to merge and the flags just didn't do it in terms of high-viz, despite my recce and photos the night before. I had to stop a couple of times to get my bearings. I saw a Finish sign on the dock wall and started to swim over to the right, only to end up close to the small red buoys, which I knew from my recce were for a local canoe club. I suspect the Finish sign was for them too, as it was still on the wall the next day. The pre-event comms said there'd be a Finish sign on a buoy, but myself and other swimmers I spoke with didn't see this. There were also a couple of coloured boats tied up at the dock wall - all of which made for a confusing landscape. A clear exit channel away from continuing swimmers and a high-viz arch on the pontoon itself would be ideal. Many thanks!