Record for longest swim

Did the person who swam back and forth and back again use flip turns or open turns?

That does sound pretty incredible Stillhere....I also think all of you OW swimming fanatics like Donna, Julie, Leanord and Swimmy for example are also pretty incredible! I did one open water swim a couple of years ago and it was just 1 mile ...and I was exhausted afterwards....there are so many intangibles in OW swimmer that simply don't exist in pool swimming....very cold water temparatures, strong currents, various wildlife (like Stinging Jellyfish and Sea Lice and what not, trying to see where you are going....fighting the hords of swimmers at the start....and the list goes on ans on....etc... I think it would be great to one day swim the English channel! The Alcatraz swim that a friend of mine did last year also sounds pretty cool and its just a mile and a half (more on my level)....but its cold and the current is very strong I hear! Newmastersswimmer Jim, I know part of the reason I now do distance is because shorter distances require sprinting and my body just can't swim at that intensity anymore, and also because of where I live, and also because I am now built for endurance, not speed, so my last option is distance. But I don't think I would ever do cold water. I was actually invited to do the English Channel in about a year on a relay; I had to turn it down because I can't train in cold water; our water is 80 degrees or higher. I wish more people would consider distance, even anything under 4 miles is a huge accomplishment. And a person's body gains tremendous conditioning doing long, non-stop swims; my doctor is always happy. However, the training for distance takes a long time and many hours of swimming, but I also am very patient now that I am older :rofl:. Surely there are some warmer-water short distance races in your vicinity? donna