Wednesday 7 September 2011

Tomorrow




Hi all



Well just 24 hours to the swim...and just 8 hours of work to get through! Now we just need the weather to improve and especially the wind and sea conditions. Come on (not so) Great British weather! I'm packed and raring to go, although couldn't find my wetsuit, so am going to have to do it in just me shorts. So stay away jelly fish...I don't want no one having to pee on me!

I have to say the best incentive to complete this swim is to have a full-on music festival waiting for you at the end and a whole weekend of decadence and debauchery! Anyway really looking forward to meeting everyone...have any new people joined us? I know a handful of people dropped out.

Anyway hopefully see everyone tomorrow morning bright and early, for a nice refreshing dip!

Bon voyage



Matt x

Monday 5 September 2011




Swimming2Bestival - Shortcut in today's Guardian:

http://gu.com/p/3xjbv

Well, not literally a shortcut. - That WOULD be good! But instead some advice from Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx who did the swim last year

When I asked him exactly how nervous he was at this point, he said: "VERY! The enormity of it scared me before the swim. It’s a shipping channel with big ships on top, big dark depths below, and me, this little thing splashing around. But on the day I was fine. Having a kayak paddling along with you, as well as a mothership in contact with the harbour master is very reassuring."
To read more:
http://gu.com/p/3xjbv


Very reassuring indeed.... Though the weather forecast's beginning to look slightly scary....


All the Bestival,

Ben Gelblum,


Sunday 4 September 2011



To contact swim2bestival & for more info on the apotheosis of athletic endeavour that is swim2bestival , keep tuning in to the new website that's coming along just swimmingly:



Swim Caps are READY!

Bring your own technical caps for warmth, these yellow latex beauties are just outer beacons of delight. I doubt the DIY logos will last the Solent... all the better for that bedraggled look when we reach the White Isle!

Friday 2 September 2011

perfect swim and fancy dress festival attire



Hi all

I saw these and thought they would not only be perfect for the swim, but also the "Rock Stars, Pop Stars and Divas" fancy dress theme. Not sure how practicle they will be on the beach though, unless we recreate the flipper dance from Mama Mia...not that I have watched Mama Mia, obviously!











LESS THAN A WEEK NOW.... until all 12 of us are bobbing up and down on the Solent waves like a vegetarian's floaty turd.






While our friends and families join the other 4,988 Bestival-visitors in making use of an invention called the boat. Incidentally, according to Admiralty charts, 4,000 of these boats have been shipwrecked by the unpredictable Solent since records began.






But I'm confident that next Thursday the Solent we dip our toes into will be flat as a sheet of glass. Or a mirror.

Watching the likes of Ronan Keating, Pamela Stephenson and Walliams battling jellyfish etc on the news this week, I'm just glad to be swimming in a stretch of open water uninfested by celebrities.

See you all next Thursday,

Love Ben, x

http://fatboyswim.wordpress.com/