Circumnavigation swims have been attempted by many marathon swimmers throughout the world. One of the first renowned swims was pioneered by 18-year-old Robert W. Dowling (18, USA, MSF bio here) in 1915 who completed the first 45.9 km swim around Manhattan Island in 13 hours 45 minutes.
Over the last 110 years, humans have being exploring the outer limits of their endurance with longer, harder, and colder circumnavigation swims.
The most recent circumnavigation swims during 2025 include:
- 1,600 km The Great Icelandic Swim, a 114-day stage swim around Iceland by Ross Edgley (@rossedgley, hand shown above on upper right)
- 12-day The Shark Swim around Martha’s Vineyard by Lewis Pugh (54, South Africa, MSF bio here, @lewis.pugh, shown above on upper left)
- 1,600 km Swim Éire, an ongoing stage swim around Ireland – with 1,200 km completed by Daragh Morgan (@swimeire, shown below, follow his swim here)
Future circumnavigation swims include:
- 1,188 km 88-day stage swim around Shikoku, Japan
- 91 km 40 Bridges swim around Manhattan Island in New York
- 45.9 km 20 Bridges around Manhattan Island in New York
- 45 km: HK360Swim Around Hong Kong Island conceived by Shu Pu
- 45 km St Helena Island Ultra Marathon Swim around Saint Helena Island, United Kingdom’s second-oldest overseas territory by Howard James of Open Water Africa [see video below]
- 20.1 km Swim Around Key West in Florida, USA
- 13.2 km Pennock Island Challenge in Alaska
- 10 km Round Christiansborg Swim in Copenhagen, Denmark
- 6 km Palmaria Island in Italy
- 5 km Naples Island Swim in Long Beach, California
- 2 km swim around Sandycove Island in Ireland
Other circumnavigation swims in history include:
- 1953: 36.6 km swim around Absecon Island (Atlantic City) in New Jersey by Ed Solitaire and Ed Stetser in 1953 in 13 hours 30 minutes
- 1969: 51 km swim around the Isle of Jersey by Denize Le Pennec (19, Jersey, MSF bio here) in 13 hours 55 minutes
- 1971: 87.9 km swim around Isle of Wight in England by Kevin Murphy (22, Great Britain, MSF bio here) in 26 hours 51 minutes [shown on lower right above]
- 1976: 45 km swim around Hong Kong Island by Linda McGill (30, Australia, MSF bio here) in 17 hours 6 minutes [shown above on lower left]
- 1977: 20.1 km swim around Key West, Florida by Anna Fugina (25, USA) in 12 hours 59 minutes
- 1978: 74.7 km swim around Santa Catalina Island in Southern California by Cindy Cleveland (24, USA, MSF bio here) in 34 hours 24 minutes
- 1985: 34 km swim around Rarotonga in the Cook Islands by Meda McKenzie (21, New Zealand, Marathon Swimmers Federation bio) in 17 hours 27 minutes
- 1994: 29 km swim around Yonaguni Island in Okinawa, Japan by Steven Munatones (32, USA, MSF bio here, @steven.munatones) in 7 hours 8 minutes
- 2006: 23 km swim around Great Island (Oileán Mór an Barraigh in Irish) in Cork Harbour, Ireland by Ned Denison (48, Ireland, MSF bio here) in 7 hours 18 minutes
- 2011: 21 km swim around Charleston, South Carolina by Mallory Mead (25, USA, MSF bio here) in 3 hours 58 minutes
- 2013: 117.6 km 3-day relay around Samosir Island in North Sumatra, Indonesia – the Lake Toba Festival – World Super Swim
- 2014: 37.7 km swim around Anacapa Island and onwards to the California mainland by Peter Hayden (56, USA, MSF bio here) in 12 hours 40 minutes
- 2018: 2,884 km Great British Swim around the coastlines of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland in 157 days by Ross Edgley (@rossedgley)
- 2019: 60 km swim around Easter Island by Sarah Ferguson (South Africa, MSF bio here) in 19 hours 8 minutes
- 2019: 19.3 km swim around Keppel Island in Queensland, Australia by Val Kalmikovs (46, Latvia, MSF bio here) in 4 hours 58 minutes
- 2019: 9.8 km swim around Pitcairn Island by Alex Kostich (49, USA, @alexkostich) in 2 hours 37 minutes
- 2020: 333 km stage swim around Öland, Sweden by Anna-Carin Nordin (50, Sweden, MSF bio here) in 22 days and 117 hours over 32 stages in the water
- 2020: 76-mile swim around the Isle of Man by Carole Laporte in 17 stages
2021: 56-mile swim around the Isle of Arran by Carole Laporte in 13 stages - 2021: 30 km swim around Lord Howe Island in Australia by Lynton Mortensen (56, Australia, MSF bio here) in 12 hours 29 minutes
- 2024: 142.5 km swim around the Maltese Islands by Neil Agius (38, Malta, MSF bio here, @neil.agius) in 60 hours 35 minutes
- 2024: 20 km swim around Capraia in Italy by Sabrina Peron (60, Italy, MSF bio here) in 7 hours 55 minutes.
- 2025: 170 km relay swim around Bahrain by Dr. Mariam Saleh Binladen (Saudi Arabia, @mariamsalehbinladen) of Saudi Arabia, Andy Donaldson (Scotland, 34, MSF bio here, @andy.swimming), Fatema Al Mahmeed (26, Bahrain, World Aquatic bio here), and Abdulla Attiya (26, Bahrain) in 59 hours 59 minutes
What other historic circumnavigation swims have been attempted and completed, anywhere around the world in any form? Email steven.munatones@kaatsu.com to share information about these swims.
© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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