Bog snorkelling champion to defend title

Aug 27 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A WORLD champion snorkel swimmer is hoping her next title-defending performance will be better than bog standard!

World champion bog snorkeler, Joanne Pitchforth, from Heckmondwike, will defend her world record time at the Rowntree's Randoms World Bog Snorkelling Championship 2009 at Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, on Bank Holiday Monday, August 31.

Snorkelers must swim two lengths of a 60-yard trench dug into a peat bog using a non-recognised swimming stroke.

Each competitor is equipped with a snorkel, flippers and goggles.

Joanne became World Champion two years ago when she broke the record with a time of 1 minute 35 seconds.

The record remains uncontested even though Joanne was beaten in last’s year competition.

Joanne is a schoolteacher by profession, and uses the long summer holidays to ensure she is top condition for the bog snorkelling, an event she has attended since 2004.

She was outraged when her husband beat her time a few years ago and vowed to redress the balance, netting the world record in the process.

Mum-of-three Joanne, 40, said: “It is all about technique. So many people just throw themselves in and hope for the best, but my experience in underwater hockey means I keep my head up and hands out in front as well as balancing to get my way across.”