In terms of media awareness of open water swimming, there is no place on Earth like Great Britain. Throughout the birth place of channel swimming, the innumerable newspaper, magazine and online publications continue to provide myriad information on events (competitive and charity) and swimmers (elite and celebrity) on the domestic front, while television and radio exposure will continue to build through the 2012 London Olympics.
Concurrently, it is fascinating to see is how profoundly the Internet is helping to shape the sport.
The interconnectivity between open water swimmers worldwide is creating a vortex of information that is driving awareness, providing inspiration and enabling friendships.
Live online streaming of open water events and near real-time coverage of solo swims and relays are bringing in new technologies, new sponsors and a global audience of fans and fellow swimmers. Corporate benefactors like Alaska Airlines, TV Globo, blueseventy and aQuellé understand that open water swimmers are hungry for support and are appreciative of the recognition.
These sponsors also understand the human drama of swimming from point A to point B – and how genuine, interesting and humble open water swimmers are. Their stories make for compelling articles, interviews and broadcasts. The background of oceans, lakes and rivers is scenic while their exploits are an alluring mix between an extreme challenge and strategic endurance.
The fear of the open water – so true for millennia – has been largely transformed. The media and sponsors now understand that many people now embrace the open water as a place to explore and test their physical and psychological limits in unique ways.
While English is the de facto language of the Daily News of Open Water Swimming, the non-English-speaking open water swimming world is even larger in terms of the number of events. If you have any particular story, article or information in any non-English language, please feel free to email to the Daily News with photos (and video links if possible) so the growing global open water swimming audience can be enlivened, educated and entertained by those in our open water swimming world.
Thank you very much.
Photo shows Poliana Okimoto being interviewed on national television in Rio de Janeiro at the Rei e Rainha do Mar (King and Queen of the Sea competition).
Copyright © 2011 by World Open Water Swimming Association