Held in an exquisitely beautiful ocean venue in Kagoshima, Japan, four 2012 London Olympic Games medalists and a number of 2012 Olympic swimmers including marathoner Yasunari Hirai, competed in the 5th annual Yakushima Open Water Swim.

Yakushima, located off the southern island of Kyushu is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization designated World Heritage Centre. The island is known for its solemn tranquility amid 1000+ year old cedar trees and towering mountains emerging from magnificently warm and clear ocean waters.

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