AN organised swim in the River Wye saw more than 200 open water swimmers take part.

The first Wild Wye Swim took place near Symonds Yat and was organised by the Severn Area Rescue Organisation (SARA) to become an annual event.

Swimmers came from across the country, including members of Hereford Triathlon Club, to take part in the non-competitive event, which had three distance options - 12km, 7km and 1km.

The rescue teams from all of the SARA stations, from Newport to Kidderminster and Sharpness, provided safety cover on the banks and in the water.

A SARA spokesman said: "It was great for us to enable so many people to swim in this beautiful but wild river with a good level of safety cover.

"The water temperature was around 12 degrees, having dropped a lot in the past two weeks, but people came prepared and most of the coped well with the cold water."

Details of the event can be found at www.wildwyeswim.org.uk