What distances does Hever Castle Festival of Endurance - Swim Series offer?

Entry options include: Swim 1.9K, Swim 3.8K, Swim 5K, RELAY Swim 10K Marathon, Swim 10K Marathon.

How is Hever Castle Festival of Endurance - Swim Series rated by runners?

Hever Castle Festival of Endurance - Swim Series has an average rating of 4.39 out of 5 from 45 verified participant reviews on Racecheck.

What is Hever Castle Festival of Endurance - Swim Series like?

Based on participant reviews, runners describe it as: Ideal for beginners (100% of reviews), Large Festival Atmosphere (100% of reviews), Lake (96% of reviews).

Hever Castle Festival of Endurance - Swim Series reviews

Name: Hever Castle Festival of Endurance - Swim Series
Start: 2023-07-09
End: 2023-07-09
Location: Hever, Edenbridge, UK
Rating: 4.39

Clare W.

4.3

· 2023 Swim 3.8K ·

I really enjoyed the swim despite the very murky and weed filled water (to be expected in a lake). The briefing was really clear and there were plenty of marshals out on the course . Once finished it was great to be offered hot blackcurrant or coke but there wasn’t anything othe...

I really enjoyed the swim despite the very murky and weed filled water (to be expected in a lake). The briefing was really clear and there were plenty of marshals out on the course . Once finished it was great to be offered hot blackcurrant or coke but there wasn’t anything other than orange segments on the food side which was a little bit disappointing. In the event village it would have been really useful to have access to water to refill water bottles without having to buy a bottle from one of the food vendors. A shower in transition (even if just a cold hosepipe) would also have been really welcome as I was covered in natural detritus from the lake and would have loved to have rinsed off before changing. A toilet in transition (not outside the area) should also be a given. Female athletes competing in other events shouldn’t have to leave transition in order to use the loos if they are on their period when competing. The setting was beautiful and it was lovely to be able to wander the gardens and grounds after the swim. I would definitely consider doing a swim event here again.

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Hi Clare, thank you for your comments! We'll be sure to raise your feedback regarding the transition facilities ahead of our next events. We're always looking for ways to improve, so your suggestions are incredibly useful. We hope we can welcome you back to another event in the future! - Castle Race Series

Jane C.

4.6

· 2023 Swim 3.8K ·

It was a great swim and I really enjoyed it. The canoeists were ensuring everyone was following the route and safe. The marker buoys were very clear. I would certainly do it again. My only criticism is that there are not age group awards which differs from other races at the fest...

It was a great swim and I really enjoyed it. The canoeists were ensuring everyone was following the route and safe. The marker buoys were very clear. I would certainly do it again. My only criticism is that there are not age group awards which differs from other races at the festival. This is a shame as apart from this great effort is made to include the swimming as an integral part of the festival which really distinguishes this from other organisers. Thank you.

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Thank you for your feedback Jane, we will be sure to pass on the feedback to our team! - Castle Race Series

Liz H.

4.6

· 2023 Swim 5K ·

Beautiful location, excellent organisation (hundreds of competitors but little/no queues…..except for the one and only decent coffee van (you need another quality hot drink outlet please). Do CASTLE RACE SERIES for YOU - it’s wonderful and amazing but so well organised and spaced...

Beautiful location, excellent organisation (hundreds of competitors but little/no queues…..except for the one and only decent coffee van (you need another quality hot drink outlet please). Do CASTLE RACE SERIES for YOU - it’s wonderful and amazing but so well organised and spaced out that it’s a calm, rather than hectic/energised event village and finish area.

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Thank you for your comments Liz! We'll be sure to pass on your suggestions for the event village and we hope to welcome you back to another event soon! - Castle Race Series

Alex R.

3.9

· 2023 Swim 10K Marathon ·

My first 10k and throughly enjoyed it. Did a 3.8k in 2019 and must say the atmosphere and the overall event had a far greater buzz, seemed far less on this time around. I think the cost for spectators was a bit high. Starting at 6:15 seemed extremely early and made it hard to...

My first 10k and throughly enjoyed it. Did a 3.8k in 2019 and must say the atmosphere and the overall event had a far greater buzz, seemed far less on this time around. I think the cost for spectators was a bit high. Starting at 6:15 seemed extremely early and made it hard to get there in time and awake enough to swim so far. The river sections had a few head on collisions, is too narrow to send people up and down. Was well marked out except that we had to loop around the start like each time which was barely visible from the water, eventually someone put balloons on it but was still unnecessarily challenging. Had a great time but a few small and easy tweaks would have made it far better.

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Thank you for your feedback regarding the swim route and scheduling! We will be sure to pass this on to our team ahead of our future events! - Castle Race Series

Charlotte U.

4.7

· 2023 Swim 1.9K ·

Had a wonderful time at Hever today. Did the 1.9km swim. Mostly very well organised, EXCEPT for terrible signage to the swim start (I felt like a had to walk miles in circles trying to navigate my way to the start point and almost missed my race as a result!). Swim was great but ...

Had a wonderful time at Hever today. Did the 1.9km swim. Mostly very well organised, EXCEPT for terrible signage to the swim start (I felt like a had to walk miles in circles trying to navigate my way to the start point and almost missed my race as a result!). Swim was great but not as good as the one I did in 2019; if I remember rightly, that had a longer river stretch and spectators were able to cheer from the bridge. Disappointed not to have that, as it made it a unique event rather than just a lake swim. Still, thoroughly enjoyed it, staff were lovely, felt very safe, and great event. Could the race be 2km though, to get a time comparable to other events? The best bonus was the obstacle course for kids in the festival village, so my two little pre-schoolers had the time of their lives on that. But frustrating can't get into the castle grounds until 10:30am though, so following race had an hour and a half to kill (and try to occupy little kids) before we could get in.

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Thank you for your comments Charlotte! We will be sure to pass on the feedback regarding the swim entrance and the event village. We're also delighted to hear that your kids enjoyed the Mini-Commando course, perhaps we'll see them at Hever Castle in October! - Castle Race Series

Rona M.

3.6

· 2023 Swim 3.8K ·

Great pre event briefings and videos. Poor signage and marshalling on arrival…in a queue of cars literally driving between marshals, being bounced back and forth as they couldn’t agree where the car park was! Good parking, easy registration and super helpful staff. A much s...

Great pre event briefings and videos. Poor signage and marshalling on arrival…in a queue of cars literally driving between marshals, being bounced back and forth as they couldn’t agree where the car park was! Good parking, easy registration and super helpful staff. A much smaller event than I had imagined it would be, so a small field of swimmers, tiny changing space for ladies, and small bag drop. Great pre race briefing, very helpful buoys and good marshalling on the 3.8km swim - it was much murkier and shallower than I expected but I did really enjoy my swim. The poor lass stationed alone at the finish line, trying to do everything on her own, ran out of sweets (and I wasn’t at the back!)but was so cheery…she deserves a medal. Maybe stock up for next year and give her a pal to help out! The grounds are amazing and my partner enjoyed wandering through them. The event ‘village’ was exceptionally poor. Nothing to really see, my pre-purchased T-shirt couldn’t be collected because schimitar failed to show up with their tent! Paying nearly £14 for a spectator felt like a rip off, and the food was very disappointing. We left straight away as there really wasn’t much to see and do. I normally go back to events but I think I’d question returning to this one.

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Hi Rona, thank you for your comments! We will be sure to raise your feedback and suggestions with our team, as we are always looking for ways to improve our events and the competitors' experience with us - Castle Race Series

Grace M.

4.4

· 2022 3.8K ·

First time at Hever FOE and absolutely loved the 3.8km swim. The lake and river section are both really beautiful (very murky water but it had already seen a lot of action before our race so not surprising) and the briefing on the loggia was friendly yet concise. Lots of snacks a...

First time at Hever FOE and absolutely loved the 3.8km swim. The lake and river section are both really beautiful (very murky water but it had already seen a lot of action before our race so not surprising) and the briefing on the loggia was friendly yet concise. Lots of snacks and drinks available on a little table afterwards. Only grumbles from me were to do with the organisation beforehand - appreciated lots of info in the emails before the day but they had conflicting info about the process from registration to race start and it was hard to fish out the details for the swim-only events. Definitely didn't need to be there 1h15 before the event start because registration was super quick and once we were let into the transition area, we were only getting in the way of the other event athletes! Ended up standing around for around half an hour, not wanting to suit up too early. The less said about the state of the 5 portaloos in transition, the better... However, those worries faded away once on our way down to the water. Now I have done the event and know roughly how it would work next time, I will certainly be returning and do recommend it.

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Grace, thank you for your feedback we will take this on board for our next events. Sorry to hear about a few of your negative experiences but we aim to rectify this immediately. I'm glad overall you enjoyed it and we hope to see you again soon. Castle Race Team

Andrew O.

3.7

· 2022 10K ·

It was all great (amazing location) but the lack of any drinks at the drinks stop wasn’t great on a three hour swim. I also question why the rib needed to constantly circle round the course, spewing diesel fumes over the swimmers. I would suggest it need only be in the middle (e...

It was all great (amazing location) but the lack of any drinks at the drinks stop wasn’t great on a three hour swim. I also question why the rib needed to constantly circle round the course, spewing diesel fumes over the swimmers. I would suggest it need only be in the middle (engine off) and wait until needed in an emergency. There were plenty of canoe marshalls keeping an eye on everyone, armed with radios.

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Andrew, thank you for your feedback. We will take this on board for future events. I'm glad you enjoyed the location. If you would like to follow up your review please contact support@castleraceseries.com Castle Race Team

Elise C.

4.5

· 2022 3.8K ·

I swam the 3.8 km & I thought the water was clearer than normal. The sun helped but we were blinded heading out. Maybe start a little later? I really enjoyed the second loop as I knew the course by then & it really felt like true Wild swimming weaving your way through the river ...

I swam the 3.8 km & I thought the water was clearer than normal. The sun helped but we were blinded heading out. Maybe start a little later? I really enjoyed the second loop as I knew the course by then & it really felt like true Wild swimming weaving your way through the river section. What a treat the setting is. Nice quick registration. No need to arrive one hour 15 mins before. Appreciated the divided changing rooms as I was quite cold & exhausted - nice to sit down & change. Only gripe is the results have not been broken down by age group but just wetsuit or not. I put a huge effort in racing my peers. I would like to know how did in comparison to them. Awaiting a response from Stuweb………..

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Elise, thank you for your feedback we will take this on board. I'm glad you enjoyed the route! If you would like to follow up this feedback please contact support@castleraceseries.com Castle Race Series Team

Penny

3.0

· 2022 10K ·

The main feedback was how poor the water stations were for the 10k swimmers. 10 cups that were laid out completely gone and not replenished. Stopped at 4K and 6k and nothing there ! I felt really sick and feint when I finished and thankfully thEre was an ambulance person there wh...

The main feedback was how poor the water stations were for the 10k swimmers. 10 cups that were laid out completely gone and not replenished. Stopped at 4K and 6k and nothing there ! I felt really sick and feint when I finished and thankfully thEre was an ambulance person there who I called over and asked for water from.I would suggest if you can’t man it to tell people to place there own water bottles out to use which would have totally been ok for me - it was just that it was clearly advertised there would be hydration and Feed stations so I presumed this would have been more than 10 cups worth . When I drove home I could see lots of manned fluid station point for the bikers to take on fluids- this wouldn’t have been acceptable in the running or multi sport events . Some very shallow points in places , interesting route but I wouldn’t do it again . Good prep for my longer swim specific event tho later in year

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Penny, I'm very sorry to hear of your negative review of the swim series. This is being discussed in great detail and will be improved in our future events. We really value this feedback so we can modify where is appropriate. If you would like to discuss this further please don't hesitate to contact support@castleraceseries.com Castle Race Series

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Hever Castle Festival of Endurance - Swim Series