MORE than 130 swimmers took the plunge for the annual Dee Mile.
The historic summer swim down the River Dee was won by Clive Roberts, who is a member of race organisers Chester Triathlon Club.
He clocked a time of 23 minutes and 30 seconds over the one-and-a-quarter-mile course, which runs downstream from the Red House to the suspension bridge.
Clive’s club colleague Daniel Craigen (23:32) finished second and took the Champion of the Dee title, which is for non-wetsuited competitors who live within five miles of The Cross in Chester city centre.
It is the third year in a row that Daniel has taken the crown.
The first female finisher was Elizabeth Price (26:19) while the ladies’ champion of the Dee award went to Joanne Morris (28:25).
Race organiser Chris Malpass, a former Dee Mile champion, said: “This year we were able to allow more people than ever before to take part.
“The competitors were walked up the river bank to the start rather than ferried and this worked well. Despite no real flow in the river, the swimmers produced an exciting race.”
The Dee Mile was first swum in 1922. It has been staged on the Dee every year since, aside from a break during World War Two and for a short spell in the 1990s.
