Behind the Lens at the Gower SwimRun 2025: A Last-Minute project of Coastal Sports Photography
- Mickaël Malaper
- Jun 27
- 5 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Sections:
A last minute call
Joining the photography team for this event was a last-minute decision. A photographer from my network couldn’t make it on the day, so I stepped in to cover. The event was taking place on Saturday 21st June. I first heard about it on the evening of Thursday 19th, and confirmed my participation on Friday 20th!
I gathered all the information I could from the organisers (photo brief and locations where I will be shooting), and off we went on Saturday morning, setting off in the early hours from Bristol to be for 7:45am at at the National trust car park of Rhossili beach, the starting point of the first race.
That was a very nice first experience of this sort of event for me.
I really enjoyed the fact to be able to combine a variety of photography genres (landscape, portrait, sports, product) in one event. It was fun to come back to where my photography journey started with landscapes photography when I got my first DSLR in 2016 (a Canon Eos 750D) and combine it to the genre of sports that I picked up in 2022.
Paulina captured some brilliant behind-the-scenes shots of me in action — both videos and photos — as I documented the races as they unfolded.
What really stood out to me was the resilience of the athletes. Despite the challenges of the course, they still found time to smile and share kind words as we crossed paths, which helped me capture some beautiful mid-race portraits full of emotion and determination!
You can judge by yourself looking at the images below:
What Is the Gower SwimRun?
This event offered three race distances:
Full course: 41 km total (7 swims totalling 5.7 km and 8 runs totalling 35.3 km, with 787 metres of elevation). 23 participants joined that race on this year's edition.
Gritty course: 20.7 km (4 swims totalling 2.5 km and 5 runs totalling 18.2 km, with 453 metres of elevation). 48 participants joined that race on this year's edition.
Sprint course: 11.7 km (3 swims totalling 1.6 km and 4 runs totalling 10.1 km, with 296 metres of elevation). 31 participants joined that race on this year's edition.
For more info about this event and other races, you can head to the website of the Gritty Rascals.
What it takes to organise this kind of events:
On the organisation side, Gary Pavitt is at the helm of Gritty Rascals, he took over the running of the event in 2023.
This event was possible thanks to a team including Marshals, water safety, and paramedics to ensure safety and good directions of participants throughout their races. Without all these people, an event of that scale would not be able to run smoothly as it did on the day.
Some participants had supporters with them that either came with them, waited for them at some refreshment and food stops, or at the finish line.
On that last stop it was truly special to be able to capture the celebrations of the participants after their races with their team mates, family and friends!
My Photo Coverage Plan:
On the logistics side, my coverage of this event was broken in 4 different spots:
- the start of the Full course race (at the National Trust Rhossili beach car park)
- a spot on the coast path that participants were running past (nearby port Eynon)
- a transition between a swim and run and the start of a shorter race (at Oxwich bay)
- the finish line and presentations (In Mumbles Underhill park).
Each location offered its own visual opportunities, from dramatic coastal landscapes to up-close emotional portraits and fast-paced action shots.
What was in my Camera Bag:
Paulina's Setup:
- Canon R6
- EF 50mm f1.8
My setup:
- Canon R6 Mk II bodies x2
- EF 35mm f1.4 Mk II
- EF 50mm f1.2
- EF 85mm f1.4
- EF 70-200mm f2.8 Mk III
- EF 300mm f2.8 Mk II
- EF 1.4x Extender Mk III
- an RF to EF adapter with a built-in variable ND filter
At the start line of the Full course race, I mainly used the 70–200mm and 85mm to capture portraits and candid shots of athletes preparing to race.
At the second stop, I swapped to the 300mm and paired it with the 1.4x extender to get some beautifully compressed landscape shots with athletes running through. I also kept using the 85mm for close-up portraits, shooting wide open in bright outdoors lighting conditions thanks to the ND filter I had in one of my RF to EF adapter.
As we followed the course on foot, it was lovely to share brief exchanges with the athletes, even mid-race, they had a smile or a funny comment for us.
For the third stop (a swim-to-run transition), I stuck with the 300mm and alternated between the 50mm f/1.2, 35mm f/1.4, and 85mm f/1.4 as the action picked up.
At the finish line, I used both camera bodies, one with the 300mm to capture athletes from a distance, and the second with a rotating mix of the 35, 50, or 85mm lenses. I wasn’t rigid with lens choices, I just went with what felt right in the moment to get a fresh perspective on the finish.
How was I able to easily swap cameras and lenses during the day?
It has been few years now that no photography backpack of mine comes without a Peak Design clip on my shoulder strap, whenever I want to change lens and use the second Eos R6 Mk II, I just clip one on the left strap of my backpack (check the picture above to see my camera with the 85mm mounted on) and off I go!
I can't recommend this bit of equipment enough, you can check it out here.
All in all, this was a brilliant event to be part of. The great atmosphere, the warmth of the athletes and organisers, and the stunning coastal views made it an absolute pleasure to document, despite the odd rain shower while hiking the trail!
For more pictures of the day, you can head to the Gritty Rascals photo gallery at the time of writing this post, only a teaser gallery is online but soon the full gallery should be up.
Thanks for making it until the end of this post, until the next one take care!
Swimmingly, Mickaël!
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