Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Beach starts or in-the-water starts are most common in open water swimming.

But pier starts and boat starts are a bit different where open water swimmers start a race from a pier, jetty, boat, ship or marine vessel anchored offshore.

One of the most famous ship-to-shore courses begins this weekend in Turkey at the Bosphorus Cross Continental Swim where 2,200 were accepted into the race among the over 4,200 individuals who registered. Doug Woodring from Hong Kong describes the pre-race course conditions:

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