A new campaign called “Get Wet…Stay Safe” has been launched ahead of the expected influx of people taking to watersports this summer.
The campaign is part of a joint initiative with Sport Northern Ireland, Swim Ireland, Swim Ulster, RNLI, Irish Surfing and the Outdoor Partnership, with promotional support from ourselves at Outdoor Recreation Northern Ireland (ORNI).
The campaign aims to provide necessary safety advice for the 3 main watersports which have seen the largest uptake since the pandemic – stand up paddleboarding, sit-on-top kayaking and open water swimming, through delivering a range of safety sessions from June to September.
Sessions are being run across all 11 council areas in Northern Ireland and are completely free to attend for anyone who is interested in how to participate in the above watersports safely.
So if you’ve recently bought a stand up paddleboard or sit on top kayak or just want to experience the many benefits of open water swimming and are not quite sure what to do these sessions are a must for you.
Participants don’t need to have any previous experience or equipment though booking in advance is essential. They can expect to learn suitable weather forecasts, local tidal information/river level information, how to find out the best places to access the water and how to develop their personal performance skills.
The Stand Up Paddleboarding & Sit-on-Top Kayaking sessions start on Wednesday 8th June and will run throughout the summer until September on a Wednesday and Friday evening at 7pm and Saturday and Sunday morning at 10am. See list of sessions below.
Co. Antrim
Co. Armagh
Co. Down
Co. Fermanagh
Co. Derry / Londonderry
Co. Tyrone
For more details or to book onto any of the ‘Get Wet…Stay Safe’ sessions please click on the relevant link above.
More dates and venues for the Open Water Swimming sessions will be released soon!