The toughest open-water swimming race in the UK will return to Glasgow in April, featuring 150 open water swimmers all set to take on the challenge of swimming uphill.
Red Bull Neptune Steps challenges elite endurance athletes in an adventure race like no other, swimming through 420 metres of cold water, climbing 18 metres over eight canal lock gates, and pushing participants to their limits in a true test of speed, strength, and resolve.
The event launched last year as the first ever fully supervised swimming event to take place in a Scottish canal featuring some of the toughest and most experienced swimmers brave enough to take on the challenging course and water temperatures. Each lock will once again feature a different obstacle that the competitors will use to aid their progress. Cargo nets, ropes, wood ladders, rope ladders and a climbing wall will all be expertly fixed to the gates and will challenge the competitors to use every ounce of energy to get to the end of the course.
Red Bull Neptune Steps will see some of the finest endurance and multi-sport athletes take part, including Irish triathlete Con Doherty, who has established himself as one of the world’s leading juniors following a string of medal winning performance at some of the sport’s biggest events. Looking ahead to the event Con said “I’m delighted to be able to compete in this event. It’s such a unique racing format and it looks ridiculously challenging. There’s nothing at all like it anywhere else!”.
Red Bull Neptune Steps will take place on Saturday 9th April at Maryhill Locks in Glasgow. Sign ups for entry to this year’s race will open on 1st March at 10am. For more information on watching the event or taking part please visit
redbull.co.uk/neptunesteps.
Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Canals, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Red Bull Neptune Steps back to Glasgow again and what better way to celebrate the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design than by transforming a scheduled monument into the venue for a world-class, high-octane adventure race?
“Scotland’s canals attract 22 million visits s year from cyclists, walkers, runners, boaters, paddlers and anglers around the world and are a major part of the nation’s leisure and tourism industry. By using them in new and exciting ways, they can create jobs, stimulate business and help drive regeneration across urban and rural areas.”
