Deadly Swim: 12 Swims, 12 Labours & A Race With My Dad

Ross Fisher

Aug 4

2 min read

Updated: Aug 12

Last month my dad and I stood on the bank of a lake in the middle of a heatwave, tow floats strapped to our waists, waiting to find out what 12 swims and 12 labours actually feels like. This was Deadly Dozen's first-ever Deadly Swim. Nobody in the field had done one before, because nobody had.

The lake on the morning of the Deadly Swim race — Flat, warm and deceptively friendly-looking.

What Is Deadly Swim?

Deadly Dozen normally run their races on a track: 12 efforts, 12 stations, solo or in teams. Deadly Swim took the same skeleton and dropped it in open water for the first time.

12 x 100m open water swims
12 functional labours, performed between the swims
Solo racing only
No bike, no run. Just swim, get out, work, get back in

Kettlebell goblet squat labour station at Deadly Swim — Barefoot, on a rubber mat, metres from the water.

The labours were dumbbell and kettlebell based - clean and press, goblet squats, carries, press-ups - all done barefoot on rubber mats a few metres from the water's edge. Simple movements. Not simple after the sixth swim.

How The Race Went

I finished 2nd male solo in 59:23. Will Seaman took the win in 54:28, and Mariusz Barcikowski was 3rd in 1:03:15.

Deadly Swim male solo results: Will Seaman, Ross Fisher, Mariusz Barcikowski — Male solo podium.

Heading down to the water between labours at Deadly Swim — Back in for another 100m.

The bit nobody warns you about is the transition. Your heart rate is already through the roof coming out of the water, and then you go straight into loaded work with wet hands and no shoes. Then you get back in and try to swim with arms that have just been under a dumbbell. Every swim felt slower than the last.

Pacing is everything here. Go too hard on the first three swims and the labours will punish you for the next nine.

Racing With My Dad

He finished it. Twelve swims, twelve labours, in that heat, in a format that had never been run before, with no template to train off.

Watching him come out of the water for the last time meant more than anything on the results sheet. Getting to do a first-of-its-kind race alongside my dad isn't something I'll forget.

Ross Fisher and his dad after finishing Deadly Swim — Both done. Worth every one of those twelve swims.

Would I Do It Again?

Tow float and race kit in the athlete area at Deadly Swim — Tow float on. Non-negotiable.

Immediately. It's the most fun I've had racing in a long time. If you're a Hyrox athlete who can swim 100m without panicking, you'd be far more competitive at this than you think - the labours are squarely in your wheelhouse, and your engine carries over better than most people expect.

Running out of the water towards the next labour station — The transition is the race.

My one piece of advice: get comfortable in open water first. Practise getting out, moving under load, and getting straight back in. That's the race.

Fancy Your First Hybrid Race?

Whether it's Hyrox, Deadly Dozen or something that doesn't exist yet, I coach athletes here to get to the start line ready and across the finish line strong. Drop me a message and let's talk about what you're aiming at.

Click For Online Coaching