“Great fun, great event, very well organised - Trouble free: parking good, easy pack collection, nice goodie bag, good bfast, enough people around giving instructions, a fun atmosphere with Virgin DJs, appreciated Talise Spa and great raffle prizes. It was a good idea to have everyone spread out at the start line. Was happy to have so many lifeguards on duty, I felt safe. One question - I wonder what how close to 800m the actual course is? Looking forward to next year.”

“Amazing Experience! WOW! - I really enjoyed swiming around the Burj Al Arab! It was an awesome experience and I will do it again as many times as possible! a big Thank you to all the team that organized this great event!”

“Great occasion - fun day and good swim - Well organised - credit to DJs from Virgin . Swim well policed and course explained well. Some swimmers on the long course delayed the start of the fun swim which could be addresed in the future as prizegiving was also delayed and lots of competitive swimmers had left. Perhaps look at high tide for next year to avoid the walk under the bridge. Wild wadi prizes for over 50 year olds are not appropriate. Great event though - one of the best things to do in Dubai.”

“Well organised and fun event - The start of the 1600m event was a little frustrating having to stand in the water for a few minutes as muscles got cold and everyone was nervous. it would have been better to start on land and run into the water.”

“Great swim parking and first aid very poor - Loved the swim was great fun. Stressful start as was travelling from Al Ain and arrived in good time but held up in car park for 15 mins then told to exit carpark and find own spot somewhere else this was quite frustrating. I needed first aid following race due to rash of some sort and first aid person was quite unhelpful. They didn't have any fresh water to rinse anything!!! Also I had to lend my own towel to the ambulance people as they needed to keep a man warm and didn't have anything!”

“Great fun. Would do it again - Get your event timetable out much sooner as helps participants sort out looking after kids in absence. More importantly, hire some more toilets .... No where near enough for the participants...this really needs fixing for next time.e”

“Awesome - Very and very well organised. Great day out for the family.”

“Prize for 800m - Is there any prize given for 800m? previously we always have it, just because now we have 1600m, now 800m doesn't have prize, it is a pity...”

“Over all its a good experiance. - Water was very cold. Second or third week of March every year would be ideal .”

“Not enough loos! - There were not enough toilets provided for participants. I would have liked a changing room too : )”

“Great Day! - This is my first time at this event. It was organised and run very well. I was impressed. I will be back next year!”

“I enjoyed it and came in second on 800 mtr - Dear organizers, I enjoyed the race however I was very disappointed that there was no prize for the 800 mtr swim. This year you added the 1600 mtr race , which is great but why did you take away the 800 mtr swim prize ?Other years the race was the 800 mtr and prizes where for that. My best friend came first in the 800 mtr race and we were all very disappointed that there was no price for us. So we would really like it as next time there will be a competitive race for 800 mtr as well. ”

“Good Event Well Organised - Good event with a good atmosphere. Well organised and well run. Only minor complaint is that there were no changing facilities”

“Fun event - Registration did not make clear 800 was non competitive or that awards only for 1600. However, Race Execution was great, Participation medal was fantastic. Thank you very much for the experience.”

“Great Event - Fantastic experience, with regular emails prior to the event, good briefing prior to race and well organised. Only 1 suggestion, toilet facilities for spectators would have been good. ”

“The event was fun and well organised. - I think overall the races were well organised. I think the start for the 800m swim should have been signposted better and also that races shouldn't have been started until all swimmers were at the start line. Also the pack collection at the start is always very slow, it may be quicker if it was broken down into small number groups and everything collected at same point. Iverall it was a great event and I will return again next year.”

“More toilets please - The rest GREAT - GREAT-Enjoyed!”

“Great fun ex. for kids - Medals for kids. NOT for Adults! I do not need and medal.... a towel is better for over 13 year olds. Thanks, see you next year, Jane”

“13-18 AGE CATEGORY PLEASE - The guys commentating did a really good job and they really stopped people getting bored. At the mamzar triathlon there was no-where to get food or coffee or tea but at this event there was a great stand that was cheap. its a bit unfair on the 14 and 15 year olds being in the same category as 25 year olds so another age group would be nice. Apart from that it was a great event. Thankyou”

“Excellent event and well organised - Enjoyed it immensely and will be back.”

“Amazing morning - My daughters and I had an amazing uplifting morning. There is only 1 thing I would like to see and that is hot chocolate for those (kids) who do not like coffee or tea. Thank you”

“Great event - Should allow those entered in the individual race to make up teams for the team prize. Need to shorten the results/prizes bit at the end. ”

“Need more advertising months before event. - Would have liked 800m swim to be given 1st, 2nd, 3rd place awards as well. Incentive for the younger swimmers.”

“4 toilets for 1000 people??? - 4 toilets for 1000 people, i know its a charity even't but some more toilets would have been better.”

“Loved it! - I loved this event. I swam the social swim with my son and we had a great time. Next year I plan to swim both the 1600 and then the 800 with all of my kids and husband too. Well done!!”

“A really great event - Would like to have had the course map before the event if possible and maybe a public sign at the event. Staggered start would also be good to avoid too many collisions. A big digital clock above the finish would just add some info and entertainment. Overall it is a really well organised fun but hard event that I thoroughly enjoyed and will be encouraging others to join next year. Well done to all organisers !!”

“A really great event in an iconic setting - Really first class and a huge thank you to all who clearly put a huge amount of work into making it happen.”

“Fun event! - Would have liked a visual of the course before we started the 1600 m, maybe a big board showing the route. Was a tad confusing, luckily i was in the middle of the pack and just followed the other swimmers. over all a great event”

“Well organised and for a good cause - The age catergories were suprising <13yrs, then 14-30 which was a big gap and should have 18yrs age group. Dissapointing that there was no recognition for the 800m swim and perhaps the prizes should have been shared over this event as well. Great to have a 1.6k distance. Much enjoyed ”

“An experience above all others! - Information on the fact that rental chip would be provided (without extra cost) if you did not have your own time tag would have saved me time looking for this (without success) before entering. This is ofcourse only a minor detail, but would make entry een smoother for those of us not used to participate in this kind of events. Otherwise a great event! When it comes to prices it would have been enough to give to the three best of the youngest pluss the three best over all, and draw the rest.”

“Seven Star Swim - As with the iconic Burj Al Arab which plays the central role in this event, it is pricey, but it is worth it. Your entrance fee goes towards a fantastic cause, and you have the bonus of a well organised swim in a beautiful setting. Top it off with a quality t-shirt and a handsome goodiebag, and you'll find yourself reeling with joy as you walk onto the beach to collect a well deserved medal. Thanks for adding the 1600m swim - although it was rather long.”

“Well done - Given chip timing accuracy, it seems that both the 1600 and the 800 could be run in 2 waves, 3mins apart. It could be based on 1000m "estimated" pool times. It wouldn't change the race dynamic, but it would clear the start just a bit. Great race.”

“Well organised and great to see it growing. - Try to obtain, from your key sponsors, Taller Course marker as the "buoys" that you used lie quite low in the water and not so easy for the swimmers to see, especially if there is a bit of a swell. Now very popular within UAE, start advertising Worldwide to encourage Intl triathletes to come compete and use this event as a training event. I will be back each year for as long as I am living in the Middle East. Great that you have introduced the 1 600m event. Keep it growing. ”

“Awesome event, good feelings:) - The event was very well organized and you were given a good feeling been part of the event. The only downside was the lack of enough lavatories which resulted in long queues! I swam together with my son who will leave Dubai this year for uni and it will remain one of the best ever memories we will have together:) Thank you for this great event, very well done! ”

“Great event, but some problems (see below) - Although I absolutely loved taking part in this event I have three complaints. Firstly, I thought it was ambiguous whether or not I needed to buy a ChampionChip so I bought one and I didn't need to and I don't want it. The pre race info said there would be plenty of parking but when I arrived at 7.20am the carpark was full and no-one could tell me where else to park. There were only 2 toilets and I had to jump the queue of 40 women to use the toilet so I could get to the start in time.”

“Gets better every year - Fifth year and this time we even got a medal! This continues to be an excellent event, very well organized, very safe and very well executed on the day. As a teacher, very happy to suggest this event to school community and even had a few teachers and students join me this year! See you again in 2015!”

“Very much enjoyed the morning and event - Well organised, great pre-event entertainamnet with Virgin Radio and the mike man did very well to explain everything. Well done!”

“Awesome event! - A fantastic event for a good cause. Just a shame that it's so popular. Spent the whole race dodging the elbows and feet of other swimmers.”

“Great event with a sensational view - Some information on the course prior to the event would be great. The giveaway bag had a pamphlet with the course outline on it but I only saw this the night after the event when I went through the goodie bag. Great atmosphere and well organised event. Can you include some links to other ocean swim events or ocean swimming training teams as it is difficult to locate these for Dubai. Need to start training for next years event. Cannot wait for the next one!”

“Great fun, well organised event - More toilets next time please”

“Terrific event for a good cause - Well done to the organisers for ensuring that everything went off smoothly. It's a fun and inclusive event for all levels of performance, and is an excellent part of the Dubai sporting calendar. Only issue this time was the woefully inadequate toilet facilities - please sort that out for next year.”

“Greatly organized event - If you could have more giveaways, parking was a problem otherwise very well managed.”

“Suggestions - Love the event but more toilets, please!!! Also, can we have a competitive 800m and a social 800m. Felt like was swimming most of the way in a rugby melee. Two races, even if starting just a few mins apart would cut a lot of the melee out. I would have been a tad nervous re my younger child swimming today as although a strong swimmer she's quite small and skinny and both self and eldest took a fair few kicks etc.”

“AWESOME! - Apart from the strange flying fish it was a great race and event! One of the best for me!”

“Fantastic - Really enjoyed the event. Great fun and great location. Only quibble is, not knowing dubai very well, wasn't sure about parking and would have been good to mention in emails. Also would have been nice to know 800m start time was later when registering. But really enjoyed. ”

“Fantastic event - Great effort, very well organised race”