Hardy swimmers are being given the chance to try out the open water for the first time this weekend thanks to a swimming festival event being run at Loch Lomond.

The 'come and try' coached sessions offered by Scottish Swimming offer both adult and junior swimmers the opportunity to experience open water, as well as those who have been in the open water before, but would benefit from a reminder or a confidence boost.

It also offers good means of training for anyone seeking to take part in triathlon or other professional events, with safety swimmers present on a boat to help anyone that may get into trouble during the session.

The event is being run by experienced coaches, with sessions being run in areas including wetsuit advice, acclimatising to the water, open water skills including sighting and navigating buoys, and breathing effectively in open water.

The sessions last one hour, and begin at 10am on Saturday, August 5, running until 3:30pm, with the junior event starting at 2:15pm.

All adult swimmers must be aged over sixteen, while junior swimmers must be at least ten years of age by the end of this year, and all swimmers looking to take part must be capable of swimming 200 metres.

Wetsuits are compulsory for the sessions, but can be pre-booked and swimmers are urged to turn up at least 30 minutes before their event is due to start.

Chris Kane, who took part in a similar 'come and try' session in Falkirk, said: "After the hour was up all of us in the novice class agreed that our initial concerns about outdoor swimming in Scotland had been, excuse the pun, blown out of the water.

"We actually looked better than we thought in a wetsuit, the water was not as cold as we had first feared and the experience was no better or worse than an indoor pool – apart from both getting you wet, I found it difficult to draw meaningful comparisons between swimming outdoors and at the local indoor pool."

Tickets for the adult sessions cost £20, while the junior tickets are £10.