Megan Shields was evening leader on 7th June.  She reported " We had 39 swimmers on Thursday, with beautiful weather conditions.  There were some new BRATS who had a lovely first open water swim, with warm water and outside temperatures and no wind.  Very lucky! "

17th May, second session. A lovely evening for a swim! Air temp. 18°c, sunny and when I left, 23 BRATs had taken the plunge.  The comments I heard were all positive so I for one feel very pleased with progress so far.  A few words of caution, beware the slippy slipway, one member fell on his way in and most were finding it awkward. Try holding onto the side wall on the right hand side when going in.  We (the S.C.) will see if there is anything we can do to improve this annoying condition at the week end.  I'll report here next week.   Cheers everyone.  Robin.

10th May 2007 : I am delighted to report on the first swim training session of the BRAT Club at BGSC.  Around 25 BRATs members turned up on a chilly (8 degrees) and rainy evening.  Stuart Howe, Chris Pack, Fred Rollins (the Keeper) and Robin Brown of BGSC were there to welcome the triathletes and to ensure that this first session went well.  It did, indeed go very well and bodes well for the future of the BRATs club at Barnt Green.  The quote below is from Tauny Southwood, leader for the evening and Chairman of the BRATs club.         (Robin).

"The requisite licence agreement between BGSC and BRAT club was signed this evening and 17 intrepid BRATs swam a couple of laps of the central 4 buoys in Upper Bittell Reservoir (approx 900 metres each lap) between 6 pm and 8 pm.  The whole session was highly successful with the induction of 3 novice open water swimmers (Mike, Jorge and Raj).  Mike in particular gets a gold star for being considerably faster than his red cap leader Steve (slow coach) Cock."

To view images taken by Robin of the inaugural session click   here   and   here.   Directions to BGSC here

Chris Pack takes the temperature on 10th May with an air temp. of only 8 degrees the water temperature 1 foot down was 12 degrees. We plan to take the temperature during our Wednesday evening club night and post it on the website during Thursday, this service for the BRATS will only be as reliable as our memories! Barnt Green Sailing Clubs superb rural situation is close to the City of Birmingham , not far from the famous Lickey Hills National Park in North Worcestershire with easy access from the M42 motorway, junction 2.

Below is the letter from Stuart Howe, Commodore, to the members of the sailing club explaining what the BRATs club at Barnt Green is all about.

Dear B.G.S.C. Member

Open Water Swimming at Upper Bittell Reservoir.  (Training)

Your committee were approached by Birmingham Running and Triathlon Club (B.R.A.T.S) who asked if our  reservoir could be used for open water swimming. After much discussion with Barnt Green Waters, the Fishing Club and Natural England, who, with regard to our S.S.S.I. status have issued a licence for the activity, it has now been agreed that it can take place on a trial basis, on Thursday evenings from 6pm to 8pm during the Summer months.

We are keen to introduce additional revenue streams in order to be able to support the upkeep and future development of our sailing club and it was felt that this is one sport in particular that can potentially provide a good income whilst minimising the impact on both the Sailing and Fishing club members. A licence agreement has been raised between B.R.A.T.S. and B.G.S.C. This document includes instructions on where to park and the designated swimming area to ensure that the fishermen are not disturbed etc. Sailing will still be allowed on Thursday evenings but only outside the designated  swimming area. See MAP for details. It is important to observe this dedicated swim zone for both safety reasons and because it is an Insurance Company warranty. The Safety boat, which will be manned by qualified members of B.R.A.T.S, will only be for use by the swimmers.

Triathlon as you are probably aware is a fast growing sport with three disciplines, swimming, cycling and running with competitions held across the UK during the summer months. Although there are plenty of indoor leisure centres to cater for swim training many of the competitions have swimming elements which are held in open water. Training venues for open water swimming are scarce, particularly in this area and for this reason B.R.A.T.S approached us to hold training sessions on Upper Bittell.

Training will only be allowed on designated training nights and will be run under a strict code of conduct as defined by the British Triathlon Association and the B.R.A.T.S.club. This code, re written in May 2007, can be seen  here.  (Opens a new window, the code is now re written for Upper Bittell Reservoir,  our licence takes into account the change from the Swan Pool code and similar principles apply.  It is possible that we could see up to 50 triathletes on Thursday nights so it could be quite a spectacle to pop down and witness!  Our Keeper will provide access for B.R.A.T.S to use changing facilities, car parks and a safety boat each week but no access will be made to any of the sheds other than the Jaffa safety boat storage shed.

We believe that we have carefully considered all aspects regarding this initiative. B.R.A.T.S is a well established club with members dedicated to their sport and therefore we do not envisage any major issues, however if anyone has any concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

Stuart Howe.         Commodore.

Visit the B.R.A.T.S website, click the logo, opens a new window.

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