UNITED KINGDOM: BOG SNORKELLING: Annual bog snorkelling 'world championship' comes of age

A bizarre British Bank Holiday tradition came of age on Monday (August 28) when the so-called World Bog Snorkelling Championship celebrated its 21st anniversary. Around 100 competitors clad in a variety of outfits 'swam' along one of two trenches carved through a bog, but conventional swimming strokes are banned. Entrants swim 120 yards (metres) up and back. The annual championship is held near Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales and attracts bog snorkellers from abroad, as well as the UK. The event was created after a conversation in the pub about raising funds for charity. Funds raised on Monday went to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Pouring rain just before the start meant most competitors were cold and wet before they even entered the bog. One entrant from New Zealand performed the traditional Maori challenge, the haka, before his attempt -- but it didn't help him win. After four hours of competition there was a tie for first place between Glen Marshall and Haydon Pitchforth, both from Yorkshire, whose time was one minute 42 seconds. So it was decided to hold not a play-off...but a bog-off. Finally the title went to Haydon Pitchforth, the 39-year-old IT consultant swimming the 120 yards in one minute 41 seconds. Not surprisingly, there is rarely any great rush to congratulate the winner! A quirky story.

ITN Source | August 30, 2006

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