The British Club Bahrain’s big splash spectacular is set to return next weekend inviting participants to dress up as anything from airplanes to super heroes before launching themselves from a high platform into the swimming pool.
Organised by the club’s Llongsteppers section, the annual Birdman contest combines fancy dress, fun and a little friendly competition while raising money for The Mission to Seafarers, a welfare charity that serves merchant crews around the globe, including Bahrain.
The Christian mission operates in more than 200 ports worldwide and helps provide care to merchant seamen arriving at Bahrain’s ports and spending extended periods away from their family, including those caught up in the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The British Club is delighted to host and support the upcoming Birdman 2026 event,” club manager Daniel McRae told the GDN. “It promises to be a fantastic afternoon of fun, laughter and community spirit, while also raising valuable funds for charity.
“We’re particularly pleased to open the event to everyone, with participants of all ages encouraged to take part. Whether you’re running, jumping or simply cheering from the poolside, we hope our members and the wider community will come along and get involved.”
Mr McRae said events such as Birdman provide a wonderful opportunity to bring people together, have fun as well as to support a worthwhile cause.
“I’d encourage everyone to join us on Friday, October 9, and help make this year’s event a great success.”
The quirky competition has a long history at the club, with Llongsteppers treasurer David Reid recalling that the first Birdman was held in 1994. “Since then, it has been a continuous fixture in the social calendar, apart from the odd break for pool retiling and during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he told the GDN.
“The event takes its inspiration from a similar competition in the English seaside resort of Brighton where participants attempt to ‘fly’ by launching themselves from its pier. To date, no one has succeeded in flying and all have been caught by the safety net of the English Channel.
“Our slightly scaled down competition encourages both young and old to fly as far as they can, either by jumping or with the aid of a man-powered contraption off our purpose-built scaffolding into the pool.
“We encourage fancy dress and basic silliness with the ‘flying’ contest not to be taken too seriously.”
Prizes will be awarded for the best fancy dress and longest jumps, with adults launching themselves from a four-metre platform and children from a one-metre platform.
“The purpose of the Birdman competition is to raise money for charity,” added Mr Reid. “The majority of the funds raised normally comes from the main sponsor and we then make a little bit more from the sales of jumps and a raffle,” Mr Reid said.
The Llongsteppers are a group of like-minded individuals who like to dress up in themed fancy dress and cycle around town every month or so, stopping along the way to socialise at local venues.
n Birdman 2026 will be held at the British Club on October 9, with registration starting at 11.30am. Each jump costs BD1.
julia@gdnmedia.bh
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