The most beautiful open water marathons

Let's take a trip around the world in world-famous open water swims. And even if they pass without fins, it's still interesting. Let's go!

1) Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race (Istanbul, Turkey)
• Distance: 6.5 km

The intercontinental swim across the Bosphorus is one of the most impressive and major open water starts. More than 2 thousand swimmers from all over the world swim across the Bosphorus from the coast of Asia to the coast of Europe. It is necessary to meet the 2.5 hours of the regulated time by swimming 6.5 km.

2) La Jolla Rough Water Swim (La Jolla, California, USA)
• Distance: 250 yards, 1 mile and 3 miles

This swim has the richest history, it starts in 1916. Then 7 people swam 1.7 miles, and by the beginning of the 21st century a limit had to be introduced, since the number of participants annually began to exceed 2000 swimmers.

3) Swim across the English Channel (strait between England and France)
• Distance: 32 km

A swim across the English Channel is definitely a “sea Everest”. The narrowest part between the two banks in the strait is 32 km, but currents, waves and other circumstances always lengthen the distance, sometimes by 1.5 times. For the first time the strait was crossed by Briton Matthew Webb (21 hours 45 minutes) in 1875, the second finisher appeared only 36 years later.

Today, the record among men since 2012 belongs to the Australian Trent Grimsey (6:55:00), and among women since 2006 - the Czech swimmer Ivetta Glavachova (7:25:15). For all the time, 2493 people swam across the canal - even more people visited Everest.

4) Tsugaru Channel (Tsugaru Strait, Japan)
• Distance: 19.5 km

By analogy with the swim across the English Channel, crossing the Japanese Tsugaru Strait is coordinated with the World Open Water Swimming Association. This swim is considered one of the most dangerous, because the Tsugaru Strait, or the Sangar Strait, which connects the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean, is very unpredictable in weather conditions. In addition, the danger is that there are jellyfish and large squids that are active at night.

5) Oceanman and X-Waters series
• Distance: from 1km to 30km

Oceanman is the most famous and largest series of open water swims. The Oceanman series is an international franchise that has quickly spread across the world's waters and is now played on every continent.
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Another series of X-Waters swims was born in Russia in 2016, it quickly entered the world stage. One of the main features of the organizers is that the X-Waters swims do not involve swimming in circles, but crossing the reservoir. The participant starts from one side and finishes on the other.

6) Alcatraz Invitational Swim (San Francisco, USA)
• Distance: 2.4 km

Alcatraz is a prison located on the island of the same name overlooking the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge. The icy water of the bay was a natural barrier for the prisoners, but in 1962 the escape from here did take place. However, nothing is known about the fate of the three fugitives.
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The participants of the swim start from the boat from Alcatraz Island and sail to the Hyde Street Pier ferry pier, which is part of the San Francisco Marine National Historical Park. On the dates of the competition, the water temperature is about 15°C.

7) Rottnest Channel Swim (Cottesloe, Western Australia)
• Distance: 19.7 km

A difficult ultramarathon swim from the beach in the suburbs of Cottesloe across the canal to the small island of Rottnest. Like Alcatraz Island in the United States, Rottnest was also used as a prison in the past.
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Since 1991, the race has become an annual event; since 2006, the slot limit has been in effect: a little more than 2,000 people.

This water ultramarathon, along with the English Channel, is part of the Ocean’s Seven super marathon (“Seven Oceans”). Just as climbers have a series of Seven Summits (“Seven Summits”), where you need to climb the highest peak of each continent, in the oceanic seven you need to swim across one strait on all seven continents.

In addition, the danger is that there are jellyfish and large squids that are active at night. This water ultramarathon, along with the English Channel, is part of the Ocean’s Seven super marathon (“Seven Oceans”). Just as climbers have a series of Seven Summits (“Seven Summits”), where you need to climb the highest peak of each continent, in the oceanic seven you need to swim across one strait on all seven continents.

By analogy with the swim across the English Channel, crossing the Japanese Tsugaru Strait is coordinated with the World Open Water Swimming Association. This swim is considered one of the most dangerous, because the Tsugaru Strait, or the Sangar Strait, which connects the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean, is very unpredictable in weather conditions.

Alcatraz is a prison located on the island of the same name overlooking the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge. The icy water of the bay was a natural barrier for the prisoners, but in 1962 the escape from here did take place. However, nothing is known about the fate of the three fugitives.

The participants of the swim start from the boat from Alcatraz Island and sail to the Hyde Street Pier ferry pier, which is part of the San Francisco Marine National Historical Park. On the dates of the competition, the water temperature is about 15°C.