Swim Serpentine
Swim Serpentine is a one-day open water swimming festival held at the beautiful and world-famous Serpentine Lake in London’s Hyde Park – a venue made famous by the London 2012 Olympic swimming and triathlon events. This annual even offers you a brilliant opportunity to take part in a fun, friendly mass participation event – whether you’re a regular open water swimmer or trying the popular sport for the first time.
We have limited spaces in the half-mile and one-mile swim.
Date: Saturday 20th September 2025
Location: Hyde Park, London
Fundraising: Free entry with a pledge to raise £150 or £200
Swim Serpentine Distances
About the half-mile swim
Taking in half a lap of the Serpentine, there’s plenty of time for you to complete this achievable, but for some still challenging, swim. It is also a great opportunity to try out open water swimming if you’re new to the sport.
About the one-mile swim
A classic distance in the world of open-water swimming events, the one-mile swim covers one full lap (1.6k) of the Serpentine. Swimmers take anywhere from 20 minutes to one hour to complete this distance. A perfect way to challenge yourself!
Swimmer safety at Swim Serpentine
Your safety is Swim Serpentine’s number-one priority, so the water safety team will be standing by to assist on the day. The Swim Serpentine course will be clearly marked by large buoys, so you’ll find it easy to make your way around your chosen swim distance.
It’s a good idea to complete your chosen distance in full in a pool before the event, and also to practice swimming in open water beforehand so you have the best possible experience at Swim Serpentine.
Open water swimming differs from pool swimming as the water is both open to the elements and is not treated with chlorine. Swim Serpentine carries out regular water quality tests in the Serpentine Lake in the lead-up to the event to ensure they have an accurate understanding of the condition of the water and can give participants all the information they need.
Water temperature
The weather in the weeks leading up to the swim will determine the water temperature – so be prepared for anything here in the UK!
Wetsuits and tow-floats
You will receive a free Zone3 swim cap for event day in your registration pack which you will receive ahead of Swim Serpentine. For your swim, you can either wear a full-length wetsuit or use a tow-float. If you choose not to wear a wetsuit, you must use a tow-float for safety reasons.
You can rent a ZONE3 wetsuit for £30 by pre-ordering, find out more here. You can rent a ZONE3 tow-float for £10 by pre-ordering here. You must pre-order by 13th August 2025.
Apply for a Rising Sun place
Rising Sun have a limited number of charity place in Swim Serpentine! You can register for a Rising Sun place for free with a pledge to raise £150 for half-mile and £200 for one-mile swims (before Gift Aid) which could pay for a woman to access specialist 1:1 counselling.
Swim with your own place
If you’ve already secured, or are planning to secure your own place in Swim Serpentine, you can still choose to raise much-needed funds for Rising Sun by setting up a JustGiving page today! Every £10 you raise could stock a bag of necessities for a woman fleeing domestic abuse.
Swim for survivors of domestic abuse
Each year we must raise £1.7m to provide all of our services free of charge to those who need us most across Canterbury, Ashford and Folkestone & Hythe. By raising sponsorship for your Kent Charity Trek you can ensure victim-survivors are listened to, believed and can access the specialist services they need to live safely and rebuild their lives.
Your fundraising could help us:
- £10 could stock a bag of necessities for a woman fleeing domestic abuse
- £25 could pay for a woman to attend a specialist 1:1 counselling session
- £30 could pay for a child to attend a supported activity day during the school holidays
- £50 could pay for a young people to receive a specialist 1:1 counselling session
- £60 could pay for a woman to attend our supportive weekly drop-in café for ten weeks
- £200 could pay for a woman to attend a 10-week support group to rebuild their life
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s great to hear that you’d like to complete Swim Serpentine for Rising Sun, thank you so much.
We have a limited number of free places available in the event, and you can register for one of our free places using the link below.
When you register for a free Rising Sun place, you are pledging to raise a minimum of £150 for the half-mile swim and £200 for the one-mile swim (before Gift Aid) for Rising Sun. We kindly ask that you raise sponsorship for your space as this will enable us to cover the cost of your place, plus a donation to support survivors of domestic abuse.
Absolutely! If you’ve already secured your place in Swim Serpentine, you can start fundraising for Rising Sun with your place by opening a JustGiving page and sharing it with friends, family and your community.
Every £10 you raise could help us to provide a bag of essentials to a woman fleeing domestic abuse.
When fundraising for Rising Sun, please follow our Fundraising Terms and Conditions.
If you’d like to purchase your own place in Swim Serpentine and then simply raise as much as you can for Rising Sun, you can do this directly through Swim Serpentine’s website.
Entries for the 2025 Swim Serpentine event are not yet available. Follow their socials to stay up-to-date on the release date.
Once you’ve secured your place in Swim Serpentine you will receive a series of emails with all of the information you need, including your race day information.
Thank you so much for fundraising for Rising Sun through Swim Serpentine, we’re so grateful for your support!
JustGiving: If you’ve opened a JustGiving page, this money will be sent directly to Rising Sun on a regular basis. There’s nothing more you need to do!
Cheque/Cash: If you’ve fundraised by collecting cash or using a sponsorship form, you can either transfer the funds via bank transfer or by posting us a cheque for your totalled amount. You can make a cheque payable to Rising Sun Domestic Violence and Abuse Service and post it to: PO Box 1229, Canterbury, CT1 9TZ.
If you’d like to transfer funds by bank transfer, please call the fundraising team on 01227 452852 or email us on fundraising@risingsunkent.com and we’ll let you know the necessary details.
When fundraising, don’t forget to ask your generous friends & family to Gift Aid their donation to help us raise an additional 25% from their donation, at no cost to themselves!
Through registering for a free Rising Sun place in Swim Serpentine you are pledging to raise a minimum of £150 or £200, this enables Rising Sun to cover the cost for your place as well as a significant donation to support survivors of domestic abuse.
Did you know that 25% of fundraising is donated once you’ve completed the event! This is why we give all of our fundraisers a month post-event to continue fundraising.
In the run up to your event, our community fundraiser will be on hand to support you in reaching your fundraising goal and will be there to support you with any questions.
When registering for a Rising Sun place in the event, you agreed to Rising Sun’s fundraising terms and conditions, which allows Rising Sun to withdraw your place in the event if you fail to meet your fundraising obligations.
Many employers offer a match funding scheme, this means that they will match your fundraising efforts. Therefore, if you raise £100 for Rising Sun, they’ll also donate £100 to Rising Sun – equalling £200!!
When taking part in a fundraising event, it’s always worth asking your employer if they offer a match funding scheme to help you increase your fundraising.
Absolutely!
To help you spread the word about your incredible fundraising efforts for Rising Sun, you can download one of our branded sponsorship forms to share with your friends, family and colleagues.
Please be sure to ask your kind supporters to tick Gift Aid to raise an additional 25%!