OPEN WATER
BC swimmers have a growing number of local races to choose from, however many BC swimmers challenge themselves to international swims such as the Alcatraz Swim and the English Channel. Locally, the Across the Lake Swim team have expanded their lake swims to include two new swims on the island. We appreciate the support of Across the Lake Swim as one of our main sponsors for this year's Provincial Championship in Kelowna.
For tips, see MSABC Board member Stewart Scott's, open water posts on his blog.
We continue to document and maintain records of marathon swims by British Columbians and in our BC waters. If you would like your ultra or marathon swim added to our records, please contact us.
MSABC Open Water Committee: openwater@msabc.ca
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Across The Lake Swim (ATLS)
Lake swims across BC
Vancouver Open Water Swim Association (VOWSA)
Races: vowsa.bc.ca/races
Swim Smart
Swim adventures and open water training
Big Effort Swim
Open water swims for charity;
does not run every year
Canaqua
Open water and SwimRun events across Canada
Find A Race - Canada
INTERNATIONAL
English Channel Swim
channelswimmingassociation.com
Pacific Open Water Swim
Commercial lake and ocean swims across California
Find A Race
UK Open water and SwimRun events
International Open Water Swim Finder
Faster Freestyle Swim Camps
Commercial BC and international open water camps
Swim Trek
International Commercial open water trips
Archived Marathon Swim Results
Marathon swims are generally defined as non-stop swims in open bodies of water of at least 10 km (6.2 miles) in distance. This distance is accepted by the International Olympic Committee, World Aquatics (formerly FINA), many national swimming federations and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, although some define a marathon swimming distance as 15 miles, 25 km or 20 miles. It can also refer to ultra-marathon swims of distances greater than 10 kilometres.
- BC Unassisted Lake & River Swims
- Juan de Fuca Strait (30KM unassisted)
- Strait of Georgia (29KM unassisted)
- Bowen Island (39KM unassisted)
- Other BC Ocean Swims (unassisted 10KM+)
- BC English Channel (34K unassisted)
- Other International Swims (unassisted)
- BC Ocean & Lake Swims (assisted)
- unassisted = swimsuit, cap, and goggles only
- assisted = wetsuit or other assistive device