Photo courtesy of Phil White, Island Pond Swim, Vermont.
The history of canine swimmers (dogs) competing in open water swims and other venues goes back at least to Manaia, a Labrador-Irish setter, that swam faster than 400 of the 922 human entrants in the 1980 Waikiki Roughwater Swim, completing the 2.4-mile swim in 90 minutes across Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.
There are other canine swimmers around the world:
* Guri Bosch, a labrador retriever, completed the 5-mile Lake Willoughby Swim in Vermont.
* Digger from Orlando, Florida who completed over 100 Lucky’s Lake Swim.
* Robbie, a Labrador, has saved his fellow canine friends [see below].
* Barney is from Sarasota, Florida [see below].
* Jake from La Jolla, California who finished 72nd out of 500+ open water swimmers at the Alcatraz Invitational in San Francisco.
* Massi, a Newfoundland, serves as a canine lifeguard in Ostia Beach, Rome.
* Rambo, a Labrador, serves as a canine lifeguard in Ostia Beach, Rome.
* Romeo, a Labrador, serves as a canine lifeguard in Ostia Beach, Rome.
* Udaine, a Belgian Shepherd, serve as a sniffer dog in South Africa.
* Butch, a Labrador cross pointer, serve as a sniffer dog in South Africa
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