The Serpentine Swimming Club's Peter Pan Cup race starts at 9am on Christmas Day in Hyde Park. Only qualified members race, and the lido has no public swim.

The Serpentine Swimming Club’s Christmas Day race for the Peter Pan Cup starts at 9am on Friday 25 December in Hyde Park. It is a 100-yard handicap race in the lake, swum every year since 1864 except 2020, according to the club’s own Christmas Day race page. It is not a public swim: only club members who have qualified through the winter races can enter.

The quick answer

  • Is it on this year? The club describes it as an annual race and gives a fixed start of 9am “promptly”. It has not yet published its 2026 entry list.
  • When: Christmas Day, Friday 25 December. Swimmers march to the board from 8.45am and the race starts at 9am.
  • Where: the club’s swimming area at the Serpentine Lido in Hyde Park.
  • Can I swim? Not unless you are a club member who qualifies. The lido’s public season runs in summer only.
  • Can I watch? Hyde Park’s pedestrian gates open at 5am, according to the Royal Parks. The club does not publish any spectator arrangements.

Who can race

The race is “the Blue Ribbon event” for members who compete through the year, the club says. For the 2025 race it set these rules, and says the 2026 criteria “will be published ahead”:

  • Members already on the handicap list before the Winter Series had to swim at least 2 of its 7 races.
  • Members not on the handicap list had to swim 6 of the 7 Winter Series races.
  • Anyone who could not meet those rules could ask the race sub-committee, through the honorary secretary, by mid-December.
  • The list of qualifiers was published the week before Christmas.

The sub-committee can cap numbers on safety grounds. Members who do not qualify can swim before or after the race, but not between 8.30am and 9.15am.

How the morning runs

The club’s own timetable is short:

Time What happens
About 7.45am Volunteers arrive to set up
8.45am Swimmers march to the board
9am The race starts, promptly

The course is 100 yards. It is a handicap race, so swimmers set off at staggered times according to their handicap, and the first one home wins. Since 2005 the Peter Pan Cup has gone to the winner whatever their gender.

Why it is called the Peter Pan Cup

J M Barrie first gave a Peter Pan Cup for the race in 1903, which the club links to the play’s arrival on the London stage, and presented one every year until 1932, the club says. The Greenbury family has given it since; Albert Greenbury was club president from 1935 to 1955.

Joining the club

You cannot join in time for this Christmas. The club’s membership page says new members join from a waiting list, attend an in-person induction with a cold water safety briefing and pass a 50 metre swim test. There are no lifeguards, and members swim at their own risk. The Royal Parks allow club members to swim in the lido area between 5am and 9.30am every day.

Public swimming at the Serpentine Lido usually runs from June to mid-September, with weekend sessions from mid-May.

Getting there

Paid parking in Westminster’s streets and the Tube on Christmas Day are covered on our Christmas and New Year travel page. For the rules on street parking near the park, see our parking page, and for closures in the run-up to Christmas, our roadworks and travel page. Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is closed on Christmas Day; see our Winter Wonderland page.

What we could not confirm yet

  • The 2026 entry criteria and qualifier list, which the club publishes in December.
  • Any arrangements for spectators. The club’s site does not mention them.

We will update this page when the club publishes its 2026 details.