Swedish woman's epic journey to Powys bog snorkelling

ROYALTY and movie stars were among the many people who queued up to launch themselves into two murky trenches of muddy water as the utterly bizarre but brilliant World Bog Snorkelling Championships were held in Powys last weekend.

From reigning world champion Neil Rutter – who smashed his own record by six seconds – to Julia Gavlin, the woman known as “the first lady of Irish bog snorkelling”, even Barbie and Ken made an appearance at the Waen Rhydd bog on Sunday, August 27.

It must be the ultimate bonkers nature of the sport that attracts so many people to a remote and barren piece of common land on the edge of Llanwrtyd Wells, but they came in their hundreds over the bank holiday weekend.

Adrian Sandstrom, just 14, from Sweden, who won the junior event as well as the international men's category (Image: Matt Jones)

The competition is famous for attracting competitors from all over the world ever since its debuted in 1986. This year was no different, with Norway, Germany, Serbia, America and Australia represented among the 150 or so competitors.

Swede Maria Götesson had a relatively short distance to travel in comparison, but not when you factor in her route entailed an 18-hour train journey, on a weekend plagued by strike action.

“I came over especially for this. Yes, I know, it’s crazy,” said the 45-year-old, who was inspired to make the pilgrimage to Powys after winning the female title at a similar event in her homeland back in April.

“We do a similar event in Sweden so we came over here with our team leader for this. There were four of us but, as a surprise, some friends of mine also showed up before the start.”

Competitors don snorkels, fins, wet suits, swimming caps – even fancy dress – before chucking themselves into a muddy trench measuring 3 metres wide and 3 metres deep, swimming two lengths of a 60-yard bog, without using any form of recognised swimming arm stroke, in as fast a time as possible.

World record holder Neil Rutter, who took 6 seconds off is time, is pictured with iconic Irish competitor Julia Galvin (Image: Matt Jones)

Maria was described by a friend as swimming like a dolphin at the event, but her journey to Mid Wales hardly went swimmingly – it took her 18 hours to get here.

“It was challenging, especially with the train strikes,” said the smiling Swede.

“We came to London and then on the train here, which with the strikes, took us 18 hours in total, from start to finish. We arrived 8.30pm on Saturday night and stayed locally.

“It’s my first time here and it’s a very nice event, people are very friendly. We have a big contingent from Sweden and I’d definitely like to come back.”

While Maria won the female Swedish event earlier this year, compatriot Adrian Sandstrom, only 14, won the men’s event.

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“I wanted to come (here) because it’s a fun thing to do,” said the teenager, who was also attending the event for the first time.

Both were rewarded for their efforts getting here. Adrian swam the bog in a time of 1 minute 47 seconds, which saw him claim the junior title and the international men’s victory too.

As for Maria, the dolphin, she cruised home in 1m 38s, which saw her claim the international female crown and third female overall.

Both, however, trailed in the wake of Englishman Rutter, whose stunning time of 1m 12.34s took a full 6 seconds off the previous world record, set by him, in 2018. It earned him a fifth world bog snorkelling crown in a row.

While many turn up to win the prizes on offer, or in Rutter’s case smash world records, many more come for the fun and madness of the event, snorkelling in fancy dress costumes.

A competitor with a frog helmet prepares to race (Image: Matt Jones)

This year, the 35th edition of the championships, entrants included the ‘Squid Squad’, a man competing in mermaid costume, another in wet suit with a tuxedo imprinted on it, some wearing inflatable costumes, even Barbie and Ken made an appearance.

The Hollywood stars, aka Birmingham couple Louise and Shawn Palmer, even swam encompassed in home-made carboard boxes as their namesake toy figurines are sold in.

As if the brilliance of the bog snorkelling wasn’t enough entertainment, this year also saw the addition of a brand-new event to the madcap Green Events calendar, the Bogathon – a 60-yard bog snorkel followed by a 2-mile cross-country cycle, finished off with a 1-mile cross-country run – held on the Saturday.

There was also wife carrying, husband dragging and ditch racing for spectators to sample across the weekend as well.

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