2011 Swims

There's the Flat Water Reservoir Champions challenge 10K run by Rhode Island's own Ray Gandy in September. (A local fun race).

In addition to the USMS OW Championship swims, there is a parallel world of interesting OW swims, as two previous posters have noted (I'll add Mallory Mead's Swim for Kids' Sake 10k near Indy). Many have qualifying requirements. A site to bookmark: www.thewaterisopen.com/10kswimmer and poke around in. Quite a feast. :) There are also series swims, multiple swims on consecutive days. The COMA Cascades Lakes series in Bend, OR, is one such, and there is a series in Texas. Chattanooga River Rats Annual Rat Race, 4.5 miles of Tennessee R. New this year is a 10-mile swim in Ten. R. coming up in mid-October.

tampa bay 24 miles boston light 8 miles kingdom 10 miles MIMS 28.5 miles ederle 17.5 miles lake champlain 8 miles key west 12 miles pennock etc

openwaterchicago.com has a great list of swims.

tampa bay 24 miles boston light 8 miles kingdom 10 miles MIMS 28.5 miles ederle 17.5 miles lake champlain 8 miles key west 12 miles pennock etc David Didn't you do all of those this year? :-)

Pennock is a dream I will never realize; I can't meet the time requirement (most normal swimmers can). Isle le Motte: a personalized swim? Have fun with the lampreys or the morays or whatever they are! Yesterday I was scared out of my wits in a very murky lake by a floating leaf!

I've done it both ways, and I found the farther north to be better. Less dependent upon folks getting you across the lake in the morning, and less worry about all of the boat traffic on the way back. My first year, I noticed my husband/kayaker waving his paddle in the air so the ferry didn't hit us. Oh, and then there was that regatta...

There is a 10K in Pensacola in late May. A double crossing of Pensacola Bay that runs parallel to bridge from Gulf Breeze to Pensacola and back. The start and finish of the swim are right at the hotel which makes it pretty convenient. Nice post race and awards. http://3milebridgeswim.org/ Credit William Dailey for posting this one last spring.

not quite bob. pennock is on my hit list. i have little interest in key west (too hot), and my next swim in lake chamlain will be a 15 mile circumnavigation of isle le motte. Pennock is on my list too. Sounds like a cold one, but then I think Ederle might be too. I'll be interested in hearing your Ederle report! I'll be chugging down the Tennessee River dodging hillbillies that day. I'm desperately trying to get the kids to come with me but they don't want to miss a day of school. What the hell is wrong with that!!!??? hahaha I did the Key West swim in 2008. Had a blast, but it's without doubt the hottest I've ever been in my life (and that's saying something! hehe). In and out of the water, it was oppressive. I couldn't swim a straight line in the last 2 miles and I wasn't dehydrated, just hot. Took my cap off and tried to throw it in the kayak. It was just as distressing as being too cold. A very fun, relaxed atmosphere though.

Isle le Motte: a personalized swim? Have fun with the lampreys or the morays or whatever they are! yes. a friend has a house on the ny side in a town called chazy. i played with google earth and figured its a 15 mile swim out and around the isle. lampreys are gross, but harmless.....