A field of 350 swimmers plunged into the River Dee for the annual Dee Mile race on Sunday.

Now in its 94th year, the race is one of the oldest river races in the United Kingdom.

“The race was split into two parts with the 1k swim starting on the Meadows and the 2k race starting from further upstream,” said organiser Ciara Murphy.

“It was a fantastic sight as the waves of swimmers turned the water white as they headed down river towards the finish at the suspension bridge where there was a real festival atmosphere amongst the crowds enjoying the spectacle,” Ciara added.

Most swimmers chose to wear wetsuits but those brave enough to go without competed for the title of Dee Mile Champion, the winner having to live within five miles of the Cross in Chester.

Championship honours went to Alasdair Grubbs of Chester Water Polo, who completed the 2k course in 25 minutes 14 seconds.

“It’s worth saying that the flow of the river makes a significant difference to the swim times year on year,” Ciara explained.

“Nevertheless, the 2016 race has produced some plucky performances in what we believe was the first open-water swim for many of the competitors.”

Adam Cartwright won the 2k race in 22:15 followed by Sam Wild (22:48) and Josh Chapman (23:07).

Laura Sharp of Cadence Tri won the 1K race (15:37) with Connor Home second (16:07) and Iain Tough was third in 16:15.

Sophia Storrar took the female Champion of the Dee title in 28:28 and Louise Fielding was the winner in the female All-Comers category coming home in a time of 27:11.

Chester Triathlon Club hosted the race and there were some excellent performances from home entrants in both races.

These included Les Church who was fourth in the 2k race whilst James Sleddon-Plant was third junior male and Zara Gautier-Price third junior female in the 1km race.

For more information on the history of the Dee Mile and this year’s results, visit events.chestertri.org.uk/dee-mile