Banana Boat VR Swim Weekend – Friday 10 - Sunday 12 December 2021

The Banana Boat Ocean Swim Series is “diving in” to the virtual world!

Join us, and the ever-growing ocean swimming community, on what is going to be the most unifying swim event in 2021 – The Banana Boat VR Swim Weekend

WHEREVER you are, in WHATEVER body of water you can find – let’s take on the closest thing to a real event we will see between now and the new-year. Hundreds of swimmers will be sharing stories, photos, videos and an all-out fantastic weekend of swimming around the country. There are some serious prizes to be won (OVER $2,000 worth!) for taking part, not to mention some insane discounts on our future events and unique partner deals (did someone say they needed a new Blue70 wetsuit?).

What are you waiting for, lets do this, NZ!

 

Swims on offer:

  • 5km Swim – “Yep. I’m Crazy.”
  • 3.8km Swim – “The Iron Distance”
  • 2,000m Swim – “Going Long!”
  • 1,000m Swim – “A Bit More”
  • 500m Swim – “Short and Sweet!”
  • Banana Boat OceanKids – 200m Swim

Key Event Information

Course Maps

Banana Boat
VR Swim Weekend

Short and Sweet!

Distance: 500m Start Location: Wherever you are! Swimming 500 - 1250m? You will need 1-2 swim sessions per week
Short and Sweet!

Banana Boat
VR Swim Weekend

Banana Boat OceanKids

Distance: 200m Start Location: Wherever you are!
Banana Boat OceanKids

Pricing & Benefits

Start Times & Event Timetable

Event Day General Info

Event location

Anywhere in New Zealand!

Race Pack Delivery

Your race pack will be sent to your registered address (so don’t get it wrong!) in time for the START of the VR Swim Weekend

Cut Off Times 

The magic of this event runs behind the scenes on Strava (swimmers best bud!), so make sure you START your swim after 11:59:59 on Thursday the 9th of December, and FINISH it somewhere before midnight on Sunday the 12th of December!

Swim Caps

We have a REALLY limited number of sizzlin’ one-off collectable Swim Caps for this event – they will be included in your race pack, but get in fast before they run out!
(If you enter after all swim caps have been allocated – you will be sent a 2021/22 Blue70 swim cap in it’s place)

Results

The Nationwide Scoreboard will be LIVE all weekend – track your mates, see how you might place, or just enjoy sharing this moment with swimmers!

Prize giving & Spot Prizes

Tune in to our Facebook Live on Monday the 13th of December @ 6pm for Spot Prizes and lots of celebrations from the weekend

Safety

Swim safety is something we at the Banana Boat Ocean Swim Series team are INSANELY passionate about!

We recommend you take on the VR Swim Weekend as team, but if you do want do it solo…

  • Use the “check-in” form for the VR Swim Weekend so we know your wearabouts and rough times in/out
  • Use the “check-out” form to let us know you are home safe! (Fun-fact, you’ll be getting a phonecall from the team if you don’t check out!)
  • Tell friends, whānau, or basically anyone except your dog where you will be swimming!
  • Don’t be silly – swim to the conditions you are capable of, we want to see you in-the-flesh this season!
  • Use an inflatable tow float!

How does the VR upload work?

Strava – the real heavy lifter!

We use a Strava API (fancy way of making systems talk to each other) to “pull” your recorded swim from your account. This will automatically be added to the Nationwide Scoreboard for your distance!

Its free – awesome – and really easy to use.

The step-by-step guide to your upload will be found HERE on race week. But you will need a watch, or something that can track an activity (or a friend you can swim with who does!)

No GPS watch! How do I do it?

No watch- no worries!
You can either swim alongside a friend that uses one and uplaod their GPS data to your account.

Still not across that?

No worrries – time yourself using any old watch and swim the distance (don’t be cheating on this one!), then send an email to the contact page (info@oceanswim.co.nz) with the results.