Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

How is an open water swimmer defined?

Are real open water swimmers limited to marathon swimmers and channel swimmers? Or does the definition include stage swimmers, adventure swimmers, ice swimmers, ocean swimmers and relay swimmers? What about lifeguards, surfers, wind surfers, body surfers, and triathletes? What about those with wetsuits and fins or those who only swim during holidays or during the summer? What about free swimmers, adventure swimmers, sea trekkers, expedition swimmers and wild swimmers? What about combat swimmers, combat divers, Frømandskorpset and frogmen? What about those who do not compete and only swim for fun or fitness?

All those individuals can be included in a general definition of an open water swimmer – or someone who ventures out beyond the shoreline.

Sometimes those individuals just want to have fun; like the 60+ surfers who will attempt to ride a custom-built 42-foot (12.8m) surfboard on June 20th in Huntington Beach, California.

The record for “Most people riding a surfboard at once” was set on March 5th 2005 with 47 people. To break this record, the 60 surfers will need to surf unassisted for 10 seconds on June 20th near the Huntington Beach Pier.

For more information, visit here.

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