Ocean/Open Water Swimming

Open water swimming is an activity in which people swim in outdoor bodies of water such as oceans, bays, lakes and rivers.

The first recorded notable example of open water swimming took place on May 3rd 1810 when Lord Byron swam from Europe To Asia across the Hellespont Straight. This is often seen as the birth of the sport and past time and to commemorate it, the event is recreated every year as an open water swimming event.

In the first edition of the modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, the swimming competition was held in open water. The triathlon, which involves an open water swim segment of 1500 meters, made its Olympic debut at the Sydney Games in 2000, while the 10 kilometer marathon swim was held at the Olympic level for the first time at the Beijing Games in 2008. Open water races of five, ten and 25 kilometers are held in the annual General Fina World Championships. Open water races usually has freestyle as the rule, meaning that the crawl stroke is used by skilled swimmers.

There are over 1,400 competitive open water swims around the world ranging from 200 meters to 88 kilometers. Although some races are governed by national or international governing bodies, many races have their own rules and traditions. For example, some races allow wetsuits; other are relays with 2-6 people; some are point-to-point races and others are loop courses. Some races require escort boats, kayakers or paddlers; some races have in-the-water starts and finishes and others have onshore starts and finishes.

Major open water events that attract international competitors include the Rottnest Channel Swim and a rare urban open water race the Round the Castle Swim in the canals of downtown Copenhagen, Denmark. In order to promote mass participation open water swimming in the United Kingdom, the Great Swim series was inaugurated in 2008. Country park Eastleigh Hampshire has an new open water swimming venue, this has been a great success!