OWS events in Japan

Hi Sydned I can definitely help you out with OWS events in Japan- but as I mentioned all available info and sites are in Japanese. If I know what distance events and month of the year etc you plan to swim, I can translate the info and help you out. This site is the official Japan International OWS Association. They organise most of the national OWS events www.openwater.gr.jp/index.html All events which they organise are listed on that site. I did about 3-4 of their events last year. They are well-organised, but the entry fees are pricey. Be prepared to travel a little ways to to swim venues. Beaches in Japan are away from main cities like Tokyo. However all accessible by train/shinkansen. I use trains to reach all my OWS events throughout Japan. Most swim distances range from 400m to 3km. Longer distance swims are usually organised by private organisation and local governments and sporting communities. They tend to be a little cheaper in price, but a lot better value eg tshirt and lunch thrown in. I actually prefer these events more. I did a 4km ows event last year and it drew 800people, larger turnout than the JIOWSA swims. A couple of other organisations do up to 5-6km ows events. There is only one OWS race in Hokkaido (in a lake, 800m and/or 1.5km) - very low key race but very family friendly including a kids aquathlon. I have done this one 2 years in a row. There are also some aquathlon events in Japan if you're interested as well. I did a baby beginner aquathlon last year (i.e swim + run race). There are some longer swims, but are yet to be released for the year. OWS in Japan kicks off from May until Oct with majority of swims during June, July, August. Japanese summers are incredibly hot and humid. My favourite Japanese OWS site is www.openwaterswim.jp/.../index.html Here they list all OWS throughout Japan regardless of who they are organised by. It is the most comprehensive list, but has not yet been updated for this year. Hopefully over the next couple of months. Some more challenging swims is the Lake Biwa cross swim. It's 16km (team/relay swim only). there is an individual 10km OWS event at miura beach, as well as maybe one or two more other 10km ows events. The official OWS 2011 calendar has not yet been released. I will post up all/or as many events as I can when they become available. In other parts of Asia: There is 3.5km swim in Guam - Cocos Intl crossing. As for Korea - you're going to need someone who can read/translate Korean. I found the official OWS association of korea website. You can explore by clicking randomly, but I can't read it. I imagine they will post up events when they become available. http://www.akows.com/ I have only found one OWS event in Korea and that is Manripo beach swim in Taean - google it to find out (I couldn't link it here). Beach swims in Japan are generally tame conditions, very little waves, water is very warm and surprisingly quite clean. I did however have one really bad incident last year with jellyfish/seabathers eruption. Let me know specifically what kind of info you're after. I blogged about some of my races last year if you're after photos and a more in-depth review of ows in Japan.

Hi Sydned I can definitely help you out with OWS events in Japan- but as I mentioned all available info and sites are in Japanese. If I know what distance events and month of the year etc you plan to swim, I can translate the info and help you out. This site is the official Japan International OWS Association. They organise most of the national OWS events www.openwater.gr.jp/index.html All events which they organise are listed on that site. I did about 3-4 of their events last year. They are well-organised, but the entry fees are pricey. Be prepared to travel a little ways to to swim venues. Beaches in Japan are away from main cities like Tokyo. However all accessible by train/shinkansen. I use trains to reach all my OWS events throughout Japan. Most swim distances range from 400m to 3km. Longer distance swims are usually organised by private organisation and local governments and sporting communities. They tend to be a little cheaper in price, but a lot better value eg tshirt and lunch thrown in. I actually prefer these events more. I did a 4km ows event last year and it drew 800people, larger turnout than the JIOWSA swims. A couple of other organisations do up to 5-6km ows events. There is only one OWS race in Hokkaido (in a lake, 800m and/or 1.5km) - very low key race but very family friendly including a kids aquathlon. I have done this one 2 years in a row. There are also some aquathlon events in Japan if you're interested as well. I did a baby beginner aquathlon last year (i.e swim + run race). There are some longer swims, but are yet to be released for the year. OWS in Japan kicks off from May until Oct with majority of swims during June, July, August. Japanese summers are incredibly hot and humid. My favourite Japanese OWS site is www.openwaterswim.jp/.../index.html Here they list all OWS throughout Japan regardless of who they are organised by. It is the most comprehensive list, but has not yet been updated for this year. Hopefully over the next couple of months. Some more challenging swims is the Lake Biwa cross swim. It's 16km (team/relay swim only). there is an individual 10km OWS event at miura beach, as well as maybe one or two more other 10km ows events. The official OWS 2011 calendar has not yet been released. I will post up all/or as many events as I can when they become available. In other parts of Asia: There is 3.5km swim in Guam - Cocos Intl crossing. As for Korea - you're going to need someone who can read/translate Korean. I found the official OWS association of korea website. You can explore by clicking randomly, but I can't read it. I imagine they will post up events when they become available. http://www.akows.com/ I have only found one OWS event in Korea and that is Manripo beach swim in Taean - google it to find out (I couldn't link it here). Beach swims in Japan are generally tame conditions, very little waves, water is very warm and surprisingly quite clean. I did however have one really bad incident last year with jellyfish/seabathers eruption. Let me know specifically what kind of info you're after. I blogged about some of my races last year if you're after photos and a more in-depth review of ows in Japan.