PREVIEW

Neil Rutter may not have an Olympic gold medal, but he holds the title of World Bog Snorkelling Champion. Every year, competitors from around the globe gather at Waen Rhydd, a Special Scientific Interest site in Llanwrtyd Wells, Mid Wales, to take part in the World Bog Snorkelling Championships. The eccentric sport, now over three decades old, attracts both visitors and athletes alike, all vying for the title of World Champion. The rules are straightforward yet unconventional compared to traditional swimming: competitors must snorkel through the 60-yard bog, completing two lengths (120 yards total), without using typical swimming strokes like front-crawl.

Neil Rutter, a 40-year-old school teacher from Marshfield near Bath, is among those who take the challenge seriously. Having competed in five championships, Neil knows the mental preparation required for the grueling race. Reflecting on his experience, he shares, "The first time I had no idea what to expect. Second time, I went in with a bit of a mission because I get a bit carried away with things. So, I wanted to swim in a straight line and try and break a world record. Subsequently, I have found there is a bit of a mindset that you have to get in because you kind of know what to expect. You know it’s going to be cold, you know it’s going to dark, it’s going to be dank, it’s going to be smelly and it’s actually going to be really physically hard work, and that’s the bit I really hadn’t anticipated in the first year is that it is a bit like running a 400m race, or, cycling a kilometre as fast as you can. It’s one of those that burns the lungs, burns the legs and I suppose knowing that, having the luxury, or otherwise, knowing it’s going to be a really hard physical experience actually has enabled me to get in to the mindset of getting ready for it.”

Swimming in the bog is vastly different from swimming in a pool or the sea, but this uniqueness adds to the experience for Neil. He describes it: “When you’re in the bog, yeah it’s a bit murky and it’s a bit dank, and there is a peaty smell to it. But, quite literally you are immersed in that environment, an area of special scientific interest. They only open it up once a year for that one championship. I think it’s so special to be able to get involved and quite literally become one with the bog and I think it’s something actually when people get out of it they look back, they’re like, what a really cool experience to do something like that, quite literally get into this environment. I think it’s really special.”

Whether you’re in it for the fun or the competition, Neil offers some expert advice for aspiring bog snorkellers. “I think the first thing you need to work out is what kind of bog snorkeller you want to be. You can be the bog snorkeller who turns up in fancy dress and if you’re going to do that, commit to it. If you’re going to be like me and you’re wanting to go fast, then you might want to invest in a wetsuit or your speedos if you can handle the cold. Now it is really cold, that’s the thing everyone is taken aback by when they get in, it really does take your breath away… So if you’re going to do fancy dress, then insulate it! If you’re going for speed, then a good wetsuit will make it a whole lot more pleasant, but you gotta go in knowing this will be a cold experience. Other than that, hat (swimming hat) put one on, put three on, and ear plugs, you definitely don’t want bog water going in your ears. Mask, you don’t need to get an aqua dynamic one and a snorkel… if you want to go fast, go for a front-mounted one. Big pair of flippers, that is the last thing, it is a leg sport, so don’t forget you’re going to be using your legs far more than your arms so make sure you’ve got the biggest pair of flippers pretty much that you know you can propel, but if you go too big, you risk burning your legs out and not going anywhere, so, it’s a bit of a balancing act.”

With his world record time of 1 minute and 12.34 seconds still unbeaten, Neil reflects on what the sport of bog snorkelling means to him. “The World Champion Bog Snorkeller, what a responsibility. Inspiring the future baby boggers. It’s a really great thing to have, I’ve really enjoyed being a World Champion in something. It’s been silly, it’s been fun, it’s something I never imagined I would be doing but I will look back at my bog snorkelling time with a great deal of fondness… The quirkiness and the madness, there’s something about it that’s just so, mad, so eccentric that it kinda sums up these bank holiday traditions and to be a part of that is really good fun. I got to be open, I get it wrong. My mindset is wrong, I’m turning up completely with the wrong attitude. I’m turning up in a wetsuit, with a snorkel that faces forwards, like there to go fast as if I’m some sort of athlete. The people who get it right are the people who are there like last year we had Barbie and Ken, in their boxes, dressed in fancy dress. They’re the people who are getting it most right and I absolutely love being part of something as completely quirky and insane as that.”

Like a superhero with a secret identity, Neil is proud of his achievements but has kept his World Record Holder status under wraps where he lives. “I haven’t actually told anyone outside of my friends within the village of my alter ego as the bog snorkeller, so I don’t think many people in the village know. The kids at school do, they’re very quick in year 7. Year 7’s turn up and the first thing they do is Google their teachers to see what dirt they can get on them and every year they find Mr. Rutter, ‘is that really Mr. Rutter?! What he does what, bog snorkelling?’ Usually in about week two one of them becomes brave enough to go, ‘Sir, are you a bog snorkeller?’ And yes I am, yes I am… I always imagined growing up watching Record Breakers on telly that if I was to ever receive one of these world record certificates, it probably be a suited person would immediately after I completed the event wander in and shake my hand and present me this certificate and it would be amazing, no, what you end up doing is you complete the event, you break a world record and you submit your record with evidence, video evidence and witnesses and all the things to Guinness, and you let time and them take its course, and then magically one appears in the post, usually long after you’ve forgotten that you even submitted for it, and the first one I got came during lockdown and I was there teaching online, doing my online lessons, and the doorbell went and I told my students ‘really sorry, pause one second, I will be right back.’ And as I came back it said ‘Certifiably Amazing’ or something like that on the front of this envelope, so I knew what it was, I was like, ‘guys I’m going to open this live in your lesson.’ And I got to open my record certificate in my lesson to those students who actually attended.”

Both of Neil’s World Record Certificates now hang above the kitchen sink at his home. “Claire (Neil’s wife), is very fast to remind me what the certificates are for. ‘Neil, they are for bog snorkelling. You’re not an Olympian. You don’t have a gold medal from the Olympics. Just remember who you are and what you are. You’ve got the fastest time in a joke sport.’ And I refute that, it’s not a joke sport, it’s very, very serious.”

The World Bog Snorkelling Championships celebrates its 38th year on 25th August 2024 and is recognized by Lonely Planet as one of the top 50 "must do" activities worldwide. “I’ve met so many awesome people along the way,” Neil shares. “The first year I went, there was about twelve of us who all went together and had a great time clearly, and they’ve come several times since with me. My family has come, and my mum has had a go at it, but along the way, you meet all the other fantastic characters who do it each year and you recognize them year after year. Because of the madness of the event, clearly it attracts certain characters, and I just think that's so wonderful; the eccentricity of the place just makes it so vibrant and beautiful.”