The oceans, bays, and lakes of the world are our racetrack. We work to care for and protect our swimmers and the environments we swim in, which are at the heart of the sport we love.

Making a Lasting Impact with UltraSwim 333

Why impact is important to us

We chose the word impact because we feel equal consideration to people as well as the environment. These two elements must go hand in hand if we are to take action towards a better future.

As a new format of event in the world of open water swimming, we have the opportunity with UltraSwim 33.3 to get things right. We know nobody is perfect (event or person!) and that’s not what impact is about. Impact is about doing what you can with the resources and knowledge you have, it’s about being mindful of your surroundings and contributing in small but important and consistent ways.

We’ve seen first hand how Mother Nature offers us so much through the places we swim. It is important to protect the environment, as not only do we depend on it for life, but we also want to ensure the generations of swimmers that follow us, can enjoy it as we do.

At UltraSwim 33.3 we have seen swimmers leave our events as better people, having accomplished goals they never thought possible, and having created relationships with different cultures and new languages, taking lifelong memories. We aim to do exactly the same with the locations we visit, we want to leave them better than we found them.

We also know swimming has a profoundly positive effect on mental health, and honestly, this is the reason we do what we do. We strive to make our events as inclusive as possible and we expect our partners and swimmers to do the same.

Our ever-growing diverse group of participants brings together individuals with different backgrounds, different abilities, with different experiences and perspectives - all coming together on a multi-day event, united by the love of swimming. We ask all swimmers to be non-judgmental and inclusive of other participants, our staff and our host venues and recognise that our differences are our strengths.

So join us at our events, and keep reading to join our collective effort towards a more sustainable future.

How we contribute as an event

Mental Health: We are committed to promoting and encouraging the uptake of swimming as a huge benefit to mental health and wellbeing, as well as supporting of course the growing 33.3 family of swimmers. We are seeking a global mental health charity to support across all our events.

Diversity, Representation and Inclusion: Our swimmers come from all backgrounds, all shapes and sizes, and have different experiences and abilities. We relish having diversity and are advocates for inclusion in swimming. We are proud to have such a diverse group of swimmers.

Carbon Net-Positive: with our partner bloomUp we measure our carbon footprint for each event - and firstly work hard to reduce as much as possible, accepting the fact we are a sport tourism event that is of course encouraging people to travel to our event. We offset our unavoidable emissions with SeaTrees by Sustainable Surf. Their certified scheme provides us with a tangible way to plant and protect blue carbon coastal systems. UltraSwim 33.3 specifically supports the South Cardamom REDD+ Project in Cambodia and the planting of mangroves in Mida Creek region in Kenya.

Reducing Our Footprint: We have banned single-use plastic in the event rules, and we provide aluminium bottles and lend reusable dry bags to athletes to encourage best practices. We encourage the swap out of merchandise and products we provide - so that our clients don’t amass duplicates of anything we provide them by attending more than one event (almost all our 33.3 swimmers so far are back for more). We recognise a large part of our environmental footprint is the fuel for our safety and transfer boats - even if our first line of safety is a big group of muscle powered kayaks! We are actively pushing for electric charging installations with Aqua Power Marine at the venues we are hosting events, and we encourage our local suppliers to move to electric - this would be the dream for all our swimming events. No noise, no fumes, limited carbon footprint boat support. We continue to push all our suppliers to provide us with goods where we need them without any plastic packaging, using bio-degradable solutions instead. In all these aspects, we want to lobby and campaign with the local authorities and commerce to hear our arguments on these points - whether its convincing the local supermarket to stop pushing out plastic bags, or to drink what is invariably good tap water rather than yet more plastic - so much of which ends up in our oceans.

IUCN Sports for Nature Framework: We are committed signatories of The Sports for Nature Framework, which was created in 2023 to tap into sports’ enormous potential to drive positive change. The Framework aims to deliver transformative, nature-positive action across sports by 2030 and beyond. As part of our efforts to protect biodiversity, we are pursuing solutions for two essential swimmer products: non-toxic, non-marine life-threatening suntan lotions and non-petroleum hydrocarbon friction creams. We also have a development project to build in water quality measurement devices into the tow floats (swim buoys) that all our swimmers are obliged to use for safety (visibility).

How you can contribute as a swimmer

Offset your travel: Like us, you can eliminate, or at least compensate for, your carbon footprint from flights and travel to our events by supporting SeaTrees. This enables you to compensate for your travel and have a positive impact on our ocean planet. We have already done this for all your travel, footprint (from food to accommodation and everything that happens at the event, electricity to logistics), from the moment you land at the nearest airport. We’d love for you to close the circuit and make the necessary contribution via Sea Trees for your own travel from home.

Swimmer’s Charter: Our 10-point action charter is signed by all participants at the time of registration so that we are a collective of individuals each contributing to better our planet, and lobbying others to do the same.

Say ‘no’ to single-use plastic: We prioritise eco-friendly practices throughout our event and we encourage you to extend your efforts in saying no to single-use plastic beyond UltraSwim 33.3.

Talk with friends and family: The more we openly talk about the impact of climate change and other environmental degradation, the greater our impact can be to address the threats posed. Share your ideas with us as an event on how we can do better. Talk with friends and family about what impact you see on marine life when you’re swimming.

Be inclusive: When you join UltraSwim 33.3 you join Club 33.3 which is made up of so many others who love swimming. While we share this in common, there are many differences between us. We ask all swimmers to be non-judgmental and inclusive of other participants, our staff and our host venues and recognise that our differences are our strengths.

Our collaborations

bloomUp: A global consultancy agency leader in sustainability, innovation and active lifestyle. bloomUp provides measurable and scalable solutions such as our Carbon Footprint Measurement for each event. This enables us to implement best practices and achieve our environmental protection goals.

SeaTrees by Sustainable Surf: Not only do we compensate for the event’s unavoidable carbon footprint, we double it with an accredited scheme. Sustainable Surf’s programs, such as SeaTrees, work to plant, protect, and restore coastal ecosystems. We are proud to work with an organisation that activates people to live a more sustainable, ocean-positive life.

Pullout quote: On the topic of participation and inclusion, UltraSwim 33.3 Founder Mark Turner said: “I’ve worked in many sports over the years and without a doubt open water swimming is the most diverse in every sense of the word. Considering age, background, ability, weight, shape size, class - swimming truly is becoming a sport for everyone, and is the one sport we can also keep on doing pretty well until we die, and always in contact with nature! It’s what makes it so special and why it’s growing so fast.