I've been wondering about what are the major US Open Water Swims. By major, I mean the largest or the ones that are the single swim that people aim for in their area, oldest, most established, etc. I have a partial list which I think is probably partially correct, but I was wondering what I was missing and what mistakes I had made. And I do know that looking at US swims is provincial and that there are swims in other parts of the world that are larger and older than many of ours.
In California, I would put the La Jolla Roughwater, the Hermosa to Manhattan Pier to Pier, the Santa Cruz Roughwater swims, the DAM Lake Berryessa Swims, the RCP Tiburon Mile and any of the Alcatraz swims as being swims that attract 400 or more competitors and are major swims by any definition.
In Oregon, I think the Elk Lake swims put on by COMA are the largest, most successful swims. In Washington, I think it is the Fat Salmon. In Florida, I think that there is a Tampa Bay 5 K swim in the spring that is the largest. In the midwest, I think the Big Shoulders swim is the premeire event, and in the colonial zone, I think the Chesapeake Bridge Swim is the largest and most prominent. In Hawaii, the Waikiki Roughwater Swim is the main event, I think, in terms of size, age, prestige, etc.
But I was wondering what other people thought. My ulterior motive is partially curiousity and partially a desire to know what the different major swims are so that maybe I can try to swim some of them.
Thanks and I will be curious to see what responses I get, if any.
Most of these are listed on the USMS LD Calendar:
USA
Manhattan Island
Catalina Channel
Tampa Bay Marathon
Maui Channel
Chesapeake Bay
Big Shoulders
Alcatraz
Golden Gate
Snake River
Boston Light
Tahoe Relays
Tempe Town Lake Swim
-anything in NJ, Atlantic City, Oregon or La Jolla
-any of the USMS Nat’l LD Championships
International:
English Channel
Cayman Islands
St Croix
Bonaire EcoSwim
Good Open Water links:
www.USMS.org (Long Distance Calendar)
www.oceanswims.com
www.doversolo.com
www.channelswimming.net/http://www.nycswim.org/
Most of these are listed on the USMS LD Calendar:
USA
Manhattan Island
Catalina Channel
Tampa Bay Marathon
Maui Channel
Chesapeake Bay
Big Shoulders
Alcatraz
Golden Gate
Snake River
Boston Light
Tahoe Relays
Tempe Town Lake Swim
-anything in NJ, Atlantic City, Oregon or La Jolla
-any of the USMS Nat’l LD Championships
International:
English Channel
Cayman Islands
St Croix
Bonaire EcoSwim
Good Open Water links:
www.USMS.org (Long Distance Calendar)
www.oceanswims.com
www.doversolo.com
www.channelswimming.net/http://www.nycswim.org/