The Fiordland Endurance and Adventure Racing (FEAR) Society is planning to host two swimming events this weekend.

Established in 2017 as a brainchild of Andy Magness, the FEAR Society Inc. brings together likeminded enthusiasts of the outdoors, who like to push themselves much harder than the average individual.

Despite relatively high membership fees ($120 per annum), the organisation is boasting 136 members from all over New Zealand.

"We are like a tramping club on steroids. We like to do things that make us a bit scared," Mr Magness says. "We're not commercial and pretty loosely organised, but we do big things that offer alternatives to higher profile, expensive events for people who are looking more for a personal challenge than the competition."

Past challenges included a one-day run of the Milford Track via Dore Pass, a circumnavigation of the Hollyford-Pyke Route by foot and packraft, and an attempted 24-hour run of the 84km long Dusky Track.

This weekend's Waiau events are the Fast Swim and the Long Swim.

Starting at 3pm on Saturday (February 9) at the Lake Te Anau control gates (the check-in starts at 2pm), the Fast Swim will cover about 12km of the Upper Waiau River to Rainbow Reach and is expected to take about one hour. As a safety measure there will be a group of kayakers forming an envelope around the swimmers. This year participation is open only to members of the FEAR Society, and about 15 swimmers will be taking part.

The Long Swim will start at 9am on Sunday (September 10) from the shore of Lake Te Anau. The participants will swim 3km across the lake to the control gates, then walk around the weir, swim the whole length of the Upper Waiau River to Lake Manapouri and continue on to Frasers Beach, a total of nearly 35km.

Each swimmer will have their own support kayak to keep an eye on their progress and provide support and food along the way. At the time of writing there were nine people registered for this event.

"There are no prizes for the two events. The reward is satisfaction from completing such a long swim," Mr Magness said.

For more information visit www.fearsociety.co.nz