An entertaining 19-minute overview of the most popular open water swim on the East Coast, the 4.4-mile Great Chesapeake Bay Swim, can be seen here.

Enjoy the show.

The event is so popular, its lottery is a major deal for many of its enthusiasts. There is a mandatory log-on id for the entry process and, as many experienced swimmers know, there is a 600-swimmer limit that fills us quickly – the fastest of any open water swimming event on the planet.

The affiliated 1-Mile Bay Challenge is also popular and limits its field to 450 athletes.

The race record is still held by the legendary James Kegley in 1990 when he swam a 1:24:28. James Kegley, an inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, won the event a record six times.

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones