Courtesy of Ger Kennedy, Dalkey Island, Ireland. Nine years after Captain Matthew Webb crossed the English Channel for the first time in human history in 1875, the first long distance sea swim was recorded in Ireland in 1884*, just south of Dublin. The coastal route was from Dalkey Island to the Bray Head Hotel. Ger

Courtesy of Phil White, NEKOWSA. Vera Rivard is a 14-year-old American open water swimmer from New Hampshire. Her exploits this year were bookmarked between a winter swim in February and a marathon swim in July. In February, she participated in 6 races during the Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival in Lake Memphremagog, Vermont when the water

Courtesy of Phil White, Lake Memphremagog between Vermont, USA and Québec, Canada. On July 18th, seven swimmers between the ages of 14 and 69 faced oncoming stiff (16-32 kph) winds, high waves and turbulent chop for the first 15 miles of In Search of Memphre. The conditions were so rough that only two of the

Courtesy of Oscar Rubio, Lago Maggiore, Maccagno, Italy. The fifth stage of the Open Water World Tour was held in Lago Maggiore in Giona Park, Maccagno, Italy. The 3-race event included the 2.5 km Smile Swim, the 6 km Hard Swim, and the 3 x 925m Relay and were held in sunny, calm conditions in

Courtesy of WOWSA, Big Minch, Scotland. The Minch, also called North Minch, is a strait in northwest Scotland, separating the northwest Highlands and the northern Inner Hebrides from Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. One of the shortest distances across the Minch is the 24 nautical mile (44.4 km) width between Gob Na Miolaid

Courtesy of Masayuki Moriya, Channel Swim Japan, Japan. Andrew Hunt, a 16-time Australian veteran of the Rottnest Channel Swim in Western Australia, was solid in northern Japan during his 10 hour 52 minute straight-as-can-be crossing of the Tsugaru Channel and the Tsugaru Current between Honshu and Hokkaido. Copyright © 2008-2018 by World Open Water Swimming

Courtesy of WOWSA, Redondo Beach, California. Lexie Kelly and Ryan Bullock have a packed schedule and are always busy, especially in the summer. Kelly works as a product ambassador, model and coach. Bullock runs Swim To Hear while serving as a full-time ocean lifeguard. They both won both Pier to Pier 2 Mile Open Ocean

Courtesy of WOWSA, Tsugaru Channel, Japan. Andrew Hunt, a 16-time Australian veteran of the Rottnest Channel Swim in Western Australia, has set off on his Tsugaru Channel crossing attempt around midnight with his sons Bede and Jasper Hunt on his boat escorted by Captain Mizushima. The 56-year-old’s progress across the 19.5 km channel in northern