The World Bog Snorkelling Championship was born out of Gordon Green and friends throwing around ideas after a few pints of beer in the Neuadd Arms Hotel in a bid to boost tourism. This international sporting event started in 1985 it takes place annually on August Bank Holiday Monday in the dense Waen Rhydd peat bog on the southern outskirts of the smallest town in Britain, Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, Mid Wales. Competitors have to complete two lengths of a 60 yard trench cut through the peat bog in the quickest time possible, wearing snorkels and flippers (wet suits optional but advisable) but without using any conventional swimming strokes, doggy paddle is allowed. The only time it has been cancelled was in 2001 when it fell victim to Foot and Mouth Disease restrictions.
