Lac St-Jean is the site of the annual 32 km Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean (@traverseelacstjean). For decades, the cross-lake race attracted most of the top professional marathon swimmers in the world.
But when World Aquatics dropped its Grand Prix series, many of the world’s most accomplished marathon swimmers either retired or focused on shorterraces or solo swims. However, the majesty, pageantry, local excitement, pre-race banquet for the community, and regional pride still continues. The Traversée is a week-long celebration in Quebec, a 5-hour drive north of Montreal.
The 72nd edition will be held between July 18th and 25th 2026. The Traversée international du lac St-Jean culminates in the 32 km Rio Tinto race with 80,000 CAD race purse this year, but it also includes the 500m, 1 km, 2 km and 5 km Uniprix Julie Beaupré races for younger swimmers, the 10 km Marathon de la relève Rio Tinto for young swimmers aspiring to compete in the 32 km Rio Tinto race, the 25m, 50m, 100m, 500m, and 1 km Défi Plouf races for children, and 1 km, 3 km, 5 km, and 10 km Course à pied Uniprix runs.
Daniel Ponce Jimenez of Spain said of the 2025 Traversée, “I fulfilled the dream of swimming the 32 km Traversée in lac St-Jean, one of the hardest and highest level tests for international swimmers. After a start, I decided to swim at a steady pace. By 2 pm, I was the 21st, but little by little I was retaking positions. Finally, got 8th overall, an amazing result for me in a test like this.
As for the cold I did well, even though the big problem for me was the waves…I drank half a lake.
It has been a real pleasure and pride to live this experience, to finish this historic test and meet in person all those swimmers I have always followed and admired.“
Matías Díaz Hernández (@matiasdiaaz) of Argentina, who won the 2025 race in 7 hours 9 minutes, said, “This is the race that every open water swimmer dreams of winning. It is historic with 71 editions. Only 7 Argentinian swimmers have won; that’s why the achievement is of immense value. It was a very tough race, in which I managed to take off from the pack with 4 hours to spare, handling pressure and managing my energy intelligently, knowing that cold is one of the main features of this test.“
Since the race started in 1955, Argentine victories have been captured by Claudio Plit (1981, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988), Pilar Geij (2010, 2011, 2014, 2015), Horacio Iglesias (1967, 1968), Diego Degano (1990, 1991) Guillermo Bértola (2017), and both Matías Díaz Hernández and Mayte Puca (2025).
For more information, visit traversee.qc.ca.
2025 Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean Results
1. Matías Díaz Hernández, Argentina 7:09:19
2. Nicolas Masse-Savard, Canada 7:14:59
3. Niccolo Ricciardi, Italy 7:38:15
4. Mayte Puca, Argentina, 7:40:13 [first woman]
5. Evgenij Pop Acev, Macedonia 7:54:48
6. Madisyn Armstrong, Australia 8:03:07 [second woman]
7. Aleksandar Ilievski, Macedonia 8:07:34
8. Daniel Ponce Jimenez, Spain 8:26:41
9. Erika Yenssen, Argentina 8:35:44 [third woman]
10. Philippe Lacasse, Canada 8:42:44
11. Julien Pichot, France 8:51:05
12. Giacomo Lucivero, Australia 8:52:06
13. Pénélope Harvey, Canada 9:27:26 [fourth woman]
14. Gustavo Lores, Peru 9:11:20
15. Thomas Bilodeau, Canada 9:45:08
Retired
Axel Reymond, France 2h15m
Matteo Furlan, Italy 2h20m
Emmanuel Sacho, Canada 3h07m
Miguel Carrizo Yunges, Argentina 3h44m
Inès Delacroix, France 4h12m
Aquiles Balaudo, Argentina 4h36m
Hugo Ribeiro, Portugal 6h20m
Withdrawal after time limit
Nolwenn Even, France
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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