Zurich - Sempachersee Ueberquerung

Exiting After the Swim

I thought I’d make the most of my last opportunity (maybe) to swim across various lakes in Switzerland. It’s a good way to explore places I wouldn’t otherwise go to.

So, I’ve done two extra lake swims so far – one was at Sempach, which was 2.1km (it was not easy to find the information, but the swim was from Nottwil to Sempach). It took place on August 1st, which is Swiss National Day and thus a bank holiday. This year, it was on a Thursday. Consequently, I went down after work on Wednesday and stayed in a hotel by Sempach station (confusingly sometimes called Sempach Station and sometimes called Neukirch).

The hotel was good although the open-plan bathroom was a bit disconcerting. I felt I had to shut the curtains each time I wanted to go to the toilet so as not to be seen by people in the flats opposite! I’m not sure what the designer was thinking, but maybe you can’t actually be seen from the outside. I wasn’t going to risk such humiliation, though.

After I’d checked in to my hotel, I walked around for ages trying to find out where the swim would start from. I found the local Strandbad (beach lido), which to my astonishment was not a paid area like it is in Zurich, but just a free area along the lake with sand and where you can swim; they also had some barbecue areas (this is very Swiss, they are very fond of installing free-to-use barbecue areas). But this wasn’t the starting place for the swim.

I found out in the end that I had to get the bus to get there and that last year all the buses had been full because it had been an exceptionally hot summer with the most ever participants, so I started to stress about which bus to get. I decided I couldn’t afford to cut it fine, so I had to get up early (for me) and get the earlier bus and arrive early. Then I stressed about whether I’d need the toilet if I’d just eaten.

The swim was similar but slightly different from Zurich (and had only around 575 people). This time, you got a red and white swimming cap to wear (out of some strange material) and, to my surprise, you had to return it afterwards. Your number was written on ink on your hand rather than on your cap to identify you and your luggage, and you also wore an electronic armband that was supposed to register you starting and finishing. You could leave valuables and rucksacks there and there were changing rooms (and toilets) available.

We were all taken by bus to Nottwil at the other side of the lake (Sempach lake) where toilets were again available. I now decided to worry about the actual swim and I had to keep on telling myself that I could do it and that I mustn’t panic. Although there were some foreigners there, it was very Swiss and all the instructions were relayed in Swiss German. We all waited at the water’s edge until given the go-ahead to start and off we swam. As usual, the swim was marked with buoys and rescue boats.

The water was a good temperature, so I didn’t have a sense of shock when I entered and I could see the other side, which was comforting. Towards the end of the swim, if I focused on it, I could feel that my arms had been working, but I didn’t feel exhausted; it took me about 55 minutes to swim the 2.1km.

We had to queue in the water while we waited to exit; it was quite cold as you stood in the water, although everyone was patient and polite and there was no pushing to go up the steps first. A representative from the organisation shook each person’s hand individually and congratulated you while calling out your number so that they could log that you had arrived. 

Your reward for completing the swim was a towel, so better than the plastic cup that I got in Zurich. After collecting the towel, there was also someone there cutting off your electronic armband and another to collect your swimming cap (hence the queue with all these people to pass through on your way out). It was almost like being in Egypt again with all these people allocated to different tasks.

Of course, there was the standard steaming cup of bouillon awaiting you once you’d got through all that. A warm snack (something cheesy, I think), a soft drink, and a small bar of chocolate were also provided by the sponsors. You are always very well looked after at these events.

I spent the rest of the day exploring Sempach, which isn’t very large. It’s a pretty town and there’s a large bird sanctuary just a bit further up the lake towards the station. I started walking along the lake towards the bird sanctuary and there was a group of people on SUPs (stand up paddles) with dogs on them too wearing life jackets (the dogs, that is!). It looked most bizarre and one of the dogs kept on jumping into the water and they had to keep on trying to haul him back on! I’m not sure what they were doing, but perhaps they were training the dogs as rescue dogs? I have no idea!

After amusing myself watching them for a while, I continued on to the bird sanctuary. I still find it bizarre that so many Swiss Badi (lidos) have some form of aviary or bird sanctuary attached to them (eg, Seebach and Enge in Zurich, for example, and now this at Sempach). Anyway, it seemed that Sempach was quite well known for its bird sanctuary, so I paid the entrance fee and did the tour of the exhibition on birds; it was well laid out and I stopped and had a diet Coke in their cafeteria before getting the bus back to the station and getting the train back to Zurich.

All in all, it made for a good trip out for a day; it’s not really worth doing just for seeing Sempach, but if you’re doing the swim, it’s fun to see somewhere you wouldn’t otherwise go!