How popular is open water swimming?
Open water swimming is a rapidly growing sport. According to data compiled by Steve Munatones of 10kSwimmer.com, only a few years ago, there were only 220 races in the U.S. and fewer than 600 swims worldwide. We are now at nearly triple that with the number of races both domestically and internationally increasing every year. The races range from the 14 open water swims organized by the NYC Swim organization to tropical swims in Hawaii and cold-water swims in Alaska. Races have been around in the U.S. since 1916 when the La Jolla Rough Water Swim started, but popular races are held in Chicago, throughout California, Texas, Indiana, Florida and the Northeast. Overseas, the sport is much more popular. For example, over 18,000 people annually compete in a 1-mile race in South Africa, nearly 22,000 compete in a 4-kilometer lake swim in Taiwan, and over 2,300 people compete in a shark-infested 12-mile channel swim in western Australia. Races are held in the Nile River, the Mediterranean Sea
