Hundreds of swimmers plunged into the River Dee for the annual Dee Mile race last weekend (Saturday, June 22).

Now in its 92nd year, the race is one of the oldest river races in the UK and attracted 350 entrants with the organisers aiming to remain as true to the original format as possible.

Racing downstream from the Red House restaurant to the Queen's Park suspension bridge, the course is actually a mile and a quarter long.

Most swimmers chose to wear wetsuits but those brave enough to go without compete for the title of Dee Mile champion although the winner must live within five miles of the Cross in Chester.

Chester Triathlon Club officials and helpers for the historic Dee Mile swim

Non-wetsuit swimmers who live further afield contest the All-Comers title.

Chester Triathlon Club hosted the race and there were some excellent performances from home entrants with Ross Hosking winning the wetsuit race in 23:10.  Les Church (23:42) took third and Iain Murray (27:00) came in sixth while for the women Elisa Manzi was third, Alison Leavens took seventh and Vicky Fisher finished in 10th. 

Greg Banham and Steven Walker were fitfh and sixth respectively in the men's championship category, and Claire Smith was fourth in the women's championship.

In the 1k race, juniors James Sneddon-Plant and Zack Ravetz were fourth and fifth in the boys' race, while for the girls Claudia Miller was second, Laura Smith was fourth, Mollie Smith took sixth and Sasha Ravetz came ninth.

Not all the biggest successes were at the front of the pack, however. Chester Tri and Ellesmere Port Running Club member Denise Lavery took part in memory of her younger brother, Neil, who passed away suddenly aged 38 of a heart attack last August.  Neil was also a EPRC and Chester Tri member and the club has renamed their 5k road race on August 20 in his honour.

Denise finished the race in 19:13 and said: "There have been moments when I didn't think I could carry on and I lost all of my confidence.

"I joined Chester Tri as a motivator and have used each sporting event I enter as another goal to reach and also to honour my brother's memory.

 "The Dee Mile was something I hadn't done before but saw it again as another goal to train for."