Ralph West, Brenton Williams, JC van Wyk, Greg Tucker, Russell Tucker, and Sanmarie Woithe embarked on an audacious goal between March 21st and 25th 2012 in their local water in Marina Martinique in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa: to swim 350 km over a 4-day period.

Their Marina Martinique Marathon was a success. They ultimately swam 351.5 km which set the current-neutral record for distance covered in a lake. Their record was later upped in a closed-circuit course three years later by the Night Train Swimmers‘ NT300 team (Grace van der Byl, Dave Holscher, Kimberley Chambers, Adam Eilath, Ashley Horne, and Vito Bialla) that swam around San Francisco Bay, finishing 504 km in 91 hour 29 minutes.

A small sampling of remarkable marathon swimming relays over the last 30 years include the following:

• 1993: Sun Rice Australia (Sunrice Australia Channel Relay Team) was a pioneering six-man relay from Australia that completed the first 136 km four-way crossing of the English Channel in 43 hours 7 minutes in 1993 with Des Renford as the team’s tactician and swimmers Cyril Baldock, Michael Renford, Baden Green, Greg Stewart, Peter Tibbets and Kevin Neilsen.
• 1996: Mediterranean International Swimming Relay Race was a 93 km Malta-to-Sicily 4-person open water swimming competition between Australia, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary on 19-20 July 1996 that started from St. Julians Bay in Malta and finished at Marina di Modica in Sicily, Italy. The Australian team won in 19 hours 11 minutes and included Melissa Cunningham, Shelley Taylor-Smith, Joe Mitchell and Grant Robinson on 20-minute legs with Chris Guesdon as their manager and tactician. Note: 1996 was the only year of a successful crossing. Both the 1995 Mediterranean International Swimming Relay Race and 1997 Mediterranean International Swimming Relay Race were held, but all the participating teams failed to finish. 1st: Australia (19 hours 11 minutes), 2nd: Italy (19 hours 15 minuts), 3rd: Czech Republic (20 hours 42 minutes), 4th: Slovenia (20 hours 46 minutes), 5th: Hungary (20 hours 56 minutes).
• 2006: Round Ireland Swim was a non-continuous stage relay around the island of Ireland from July to August 2006 covering 1,310 km over the course of 56 days including a total of 35 swim days by Anne Marie Ward, Ryan Ward, Tom Watters, Ian Claxton and Nuala Moore with expedition leader Henry O Donnell.
• 2007: Sport City Mexico was a six-member relay from Mexico City that completed the second 136 km four-way crossing of the English Channel in 42 hours 11 minutes in August 2007. The members included Mariel Hawley, Jorge Urreta, Luis Pineyro, Omar Díaz González, Alejandro Moreno, and Mayalen Noriega with coach Rodolfo Aznar, Dr. Alexander Kormanovsky, escort pilot Mike Oram and co-pilot Lance Oram.
• 2008: Lake Cane Relay: 2 teams of 50 swimmers, each doing 2 km, who covered 100 km in 37 hours 6 minutes in Lake Cane in Orlando, Florida, USA under the leadership of Dr. Lucky Meisenheimer in December 2008.
• 2009: Taupo x 3 (or Lake Taupo Three-way Relay) were two separate 6-person male and female relays that swam 126 km in a three-way crossing of Lake Taupo, New Zealand between 5-6 January 2009. The men’s team finished in 33 hours 31 minutes 15 seconds and included Steve Junk (Australia), Mark Cockroft (New Zealand), Dougal Hunt (Australia), Chris Palfrey (Australia), and Stephen Spence (Australia) with Philip Rush as the escort pilot. The women’s team finished in 33 hours 33 minutes 45 seconds and included Julie Bradshaw (England), Michelle Macy (USA), Barbara Pellick (Australia), Penny Palfrey (Australia), Lucy Roper (England), and Heather Osborn (New Zealand).
• 2009: The Camlough Team was a relay of 220 swimmers who swam non-stop 685.5 km in Camlough Lake in northern Ireland for 232 hours 52 minutes over 9 nights and 10 days in 2009 under the leadership of Aoife McCourt-Lynch and Pádraig Mallon.
• 2010: Mexican American Unity Swim was a 3-man, 3-woman relay that swam 200 km in Lake Powell, Utah, USA on 24-26 September 2010. The three American men and three Mexican women swam for 55 hours, 20 minutes 25 seconds and included Patty Kohlman, Edna Llorens, Nora Toledano, Captain Vito Bialla, Matthew Davie, and Phil Cutti with Steven Munatones as observer.
• 2010: Ventura Deep Six was a 6-man relay that swam 325 km down the California coast from Ventura to La Jolla Cove near San Diego, California. The Ventura County Masters Swim Club included Tom Ball, Kurtis Baron, John Chung, Jim McConica, Jim Neitz and Mike Shaffer who swam for 4 days 5 hours 39.53 minutes (101 hours 39 minutes and 53 seconds) between 16-20 September 2010.
• 2010: Kaieiewaho Channel Relay was a 6-person relay that swam 115.8 km across the Kaieiewaho Channel from Oahu to Kauai. The team of Linda Kaiser, Randy Brown, Michelle Macy, Joel Swartz, Billy Brown and Mike Spalding swam for 47 hours 55 minutes on 20-22 November 2010.
• 2011: Windermere 12-way Warriors was a 6-person relay that swam 12 non-stop crossings of Windermere in the Lake District of England. The team of Liane Llewellyn, Thomas Noblett, Keith Bartolo, Michelle Lefton, Michelle Sharples and Dee Llewellyn was escorted by Chris Ducker, swimming 202.7 km in 75 hours 32 minutes on 27-30 May 2011 in 10°C water.
• 2011: Japan to Taiwan Ocean Swim Challenge was a 6-person 120 km relay that swam from Yonaguni Island in Okinawa, Japan to the eastern shore of Taiwan. The team of Kazuya Suzuki, Atsushi Suzuki, Masaya Shimizu, Kenta Ishii, Haruki Yamamoto, and Kouhei Yamada took 50 hours to complete and raised nearly US$100,000 for charity.
• 2012: Marina Martinique Marathon was a 6-person relay that swam 351.5 km in a 3.1 km loop course within Marina Martinique in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa between 21-25 March 2012. The team included Ralph West, Brenton Williams, JC van Wyk, Greg Tucker, Russell Tucker and Sanmarie Woithe.
• 2013: Team FTD was a 6-person relay that completed an unprecedented 6-way 195 km Catalina Channel crossing in 61 hours 7 minutes from 10-13 July 2013. The team included Forrest Nelson, Becky Jackman-Beeler, Mike Mitchell, Kent Nicholas, Emily Evans, and Tina Neill. The team was captained by pilot John Pittman on the vessel Outrider with observers Carol Sing, Donald Van Cleve, and Adam Moine.
• 2013: Night Train Swimmers was a 2-woman, 4-man relay that swam 367 km along the California coast from Gaviota State Park to a small beach near the San Diego Yacht Club. The team included Phil Cutti, David Holscher, Zach Jirkovsky, Luane Rowe, Blair Cannon, and Grace van der Byl swam between 22-26 August 2013, escorted by Captain Vito Bialla, navigator Hal McCormick and observer Patrick Horn for 100 hours 28 minutes between 22-26 August 2013.
• 2014: Cyprus Israel Swim was a 6-man relay that swam 380 km from Cyprus to Israel in 123 hours 10 minutes. The team swam from Paphos Port Cyprus in Cyprus at 2:20 pm on 5 October 2014 and finished south of Rishon, Israel at 5:30 pm on 10 October and included Udi Erell, Doron Amosi, Ben Enosh, Ori Sela, Oded Rahav, and Luc Chetboun with a support crew of Erez Amir, captain Nimrod Or and Uri Brown.
• 2014: Delphinus was a 6-person team of Indian Air Force personnel who swam 286 km clockwise around Mumbai, India on 28-30 October 2014 in 49 hours 44 minutes with Wing Commander Paramvir Singh, Sergeant Gullupilli Narhari, Sergeant Ankan Kumar Patel, Sergeant S Sriharim, Corporal Aneesh Singh and Leading Aircraftsman Vicky Tokas.
• 2015: The Sea Hawk was a team of 6 Indian open water swimmers who completed a charity swim of 433.11 km from Dona Paula in Goa along the Konkan coast to the Gateway of India in Mumbai, India in 156 hours between 13-19 February 2015 that included Paramvir Singh, Gullupilli Narhari, Ankan Kumar Patel, Vicky Tokas, Ganesh Palande, and Manav Mehta.
• 2015: The Swim4Good Costa Brava relay was a 6-person Spanish team that swam the length of the Costa Brava from Blanes to Portbou in Spain, finishing in 32 hours 7 minutes for the 118.6 km distance in July 2015. its swimmers included Guillermo Sagnier, Christian Puentes, Alberto Compte, Jordi Cañellas, Mauricio Prieto, and Esteban Raventós with Captain Toni Fiol.
• 2015: The Night Train Swimmers‘ NT300 was a 6-person team that swam around San Francisco Bay, finishing in 91 hour 29 minutes for the 504 km distance between 10 am on 6 September and 5:29 am on 11 September 2015. Its swimmers included Grace van der Byl, Dave Holscher, Kimberley Chambers, Adam Eilath, Ashley Horne, and Vito Bialla.
• 2016: The Sea Hawk relay team of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Paramvir Singh, retired Indian Air Force Sergeant Gullupilli Narhari, Sergeant Ankan Kumar Patel, Indian Air Force Aircraftman Vicky Tokas, Mumbai police sub-inspector Shrikant Palande, 16-year-old Manav Mehta, swimmer-coach Rahul Chiplunkar who completed a 1,031 km non-stop relay swim from the Gate of India in Mumbai to Mangalore in India in between November 16th and the finish on December 8th, a 22-day journey.
• 2022: The swimyourswim team of Samantha Farrow, Tracy Mistry, Claire Poole, and Caroline Saxon completed a four-person relay 13 times across Lake Windermere in England in 77 hours 39 minutes, swimming a total of 219.7 km on 18 September 2022.

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