Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

When we travel around the world in the global open water swimming community, we find the greatest cheers are often reserved for the last person, the slowest swimmer in the competition.

We love this form of healthy respect and generous support about the sport of open water swimming. Swimmers can be slow or disabled, non-competitive or older, out-of-shape or overweight, but the adulation from fellow open water swimmers comes in groves.

At the International Masters Open Water Swim in Japan, the last swimmer in the competition is always greeted onshore with a line of fellow competitors who welcome the slowest swimmer with loudest cheers, widest smiles, and heart-felt respect.

Swimmer in green cap is Professor Morrie Chiang who is the race director for next week’s Sun Moon Lake International Swimming Carnival, the largest non-timed open water swimming event in the world. His race is capped at 25,000 swimmers for the 3 km lake crossing.

Copyright © 2013 by World Open Water Swimming Association