Fancy watching a free Olympic Test Event this weekend?

The London 10km Marathon Swimming International takes place in the Serpentine in Hyde Park, and is free to watch. This swimming event is part of the London Prepares series, the official London 2012 sports testing programme.

You can watch the action from a number of spots around the Serpentine on Saturday.

The top 60 swimmers in the world have been invited. Up to 40 athletes will compete on the Serpentine, each swimming six laps of the 1.67km course.

Competitors to look out for include:

• Liverpool-born Spyridon Gianniotis, who’s competing for Greece (he’s the 10km gold medallist from the recent FINA World Championships in Shanghai)
• German Olympian Thomas Lurz (the silver medallist from Shanghai)
• Martina Grimaldi from Italy, who took silver in Shanghai
• Marianna Lymperta from Greece, who took bronze in Shanghai

David Luckes, Head of Sport Competition at the London 2012 Organising Committee says, “The London 10km Marathon Swimming International will be used to test the Marathon Swimming course in Hyde Park as well as many of LOCOG’s operations.

“We are delighted to be able to run such an event with a high level of international athletes and look forward to giving the public an opportunity to witness world class sport for free this weekend.”

The women’s race starts at 10am and the men’s race starts at 2pm.

For more information about the free event, including entry lists, visit the London Prepare series website.