Open House Festival Pickie to Pier Swim 2022

27th June 2022

The Pickie to Pier Swim has officially become an annual event on Bangor’s summer calendar once again, with the third swim in four years taking place on Friday 8th July. 

After a 30-year absence, the legendary swim was resurrected as part of Open House Festival’s Seaside Revival celebrations in 2019, to spectacular success. It was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, but returned again last year, with hundreds of onlookers at both the starting and finish lines cheering the swimmers on. 

In a first, this year’s swim, will take place in the evening, with a 7pm start time. Organised in partnership with Ballyholme Yacht Club and We are Boat Folk at Bangor Marina, the swim covers an 800m course from Skippingstone beach beside Pickie Fun park, to the RNLI slipway at Bangor Marina. Open to 200 competitors, participants must be over 16 years of age and confident, experienced swimmers who are capable of swimming 1000m within 30 minutes. The route will be supported in the water by kayaks, ribs and paddleboards.

"We are thrilled to see the Pickie to Pier Swim becoming a  staple summer event in Bangor once again,” said Kieran Gilmore, Open House Director. “It’s as popular now with spectators as it is with swimmers, and we’re looking forward to seeing crowds of people at Skippingstone Beach and along the pier cheering the competitors on.”

This year’s swim is supported by Cosimac Ltd, the Bangor-based outdoor clothing company who specialise in swimming robes and towels. They’ll be presenting a £100 Cosimac voucher  to the first swimmer home, a Cosimac towel robe to the runner up, and a bundle of goodies to the swimmer in third placed. Main Street My Street are providing tote bags and post-swim refreshments, and all participants will receive a medal for completing the course.  

Angela Skarmoutsos of Cosimac said, “as a local Bangor brand, we’re delighted to be supporting this brilliant event, especially as it fits with the Cosimac ethos – get into the water and have an adventure! We’ve been following the Pickie to Pier Swim since it’s re-emergence and are so grateful to Open House for bringing it back to Bangor again, and we jumped at the opportunity to lend our support. Good luck to all the swimmers on the evening!”

Kieran Gilmore paid tribute to everyone behind the scenes who help to make the swim such a success. “We couldn’t run the event without the help and support of so many people, including Alan Whyte and Ballyholme Yacht Club, Kevin Baird at We are Boat Folk, the safety crews manning the route on boats, kayaks and paddle boards, and of course our local RNLI. Special thanks this year must go to Cosimac and Main Street My Street - and of course to our own Open House Volunteers who’ll be making sure everything runs smoothly on the night.”

To find out more, and to register, visit the Open House website.

Any queries can be directed to sharon@openhousefestival.com.