Wales is a strange place. Not only are there supposedly four times as many sheep as people in the country, but it is also home to the World Bog Snorkeling Championship, which takes place in 60-yard trench cut through a private peat bog on the outskirts of a town called Llanwrtyd Wells. With barely 600 residents, Llanwrtyd Wells claims to be the smallest town in Britain, and it hosts crazy festivals to draw tourists.
World Bog Snorkeling Championship competitors swim two lengths of the bog— which is very cold and smells terrible — with flippers and a snorkel. No recognized swimming stroke may be used; snorkelers must doggy-paddle or swim with their arms held directly in front of them. Most competitors wear silly costumes and are careful not to swim with any exposed cuts or scrapes (it is, after all, a bog). The world record is currently one minute 35 seconds. Once an extremely obscure local sport, the event now attracts hundreds of competitors and spectators from all over the world and is thus now only slightly obscure. 2008 marked the 23rd annual World Bog Championship; 170 snorkelers took part, and 23-year-old Conor Murphy from Ireland took home the $100 prize.
