The other day my training partner and I were reminiscing about a time when we signed up for open water swims the week before the event or even day of, and now we find ourselves planning swims 8-10 months in advance! If you’re looking to try a marathon swim in 2019, consider that for safety reasons longer swims are capped and sometimes sell out well in advance. For channel crossings, there are a limited number of certified pilots, and they book up quickly. It seems that more and more people are looking to test their personal limits with open water swimming (and a shout out to the triathlete’s out there pushing their limits in THREE disciplines)!
I have an outline of swims planned for 2019. The biggest swims are already paid for and on the books. Now I’m planning filler and training swims to round out my schedule. And I want to budget time to swim with YOU too! If you’re local, let’s go play in one of our lakes! If you’re not, let’s meet up somewhere! With a husband and two kids who have schedules of their own, putting a stake in the ground for my absence well in advance is critical – so tell me, where can I find you in 2019?
If you’re looking to challenge yourself in the coming year, here are a few of my favorite swims that are already accepting applications for 2019:
SCAR opened on November 1st – 4 days, 4 lakes, almost 40 miles of swimming in the desert in April. I tried Apache and completed Roosevelt in 2014, great swims, great community, great opportunity to challenge yourself.
END-WET registration is open. This is the longest swim in North America. Mid June, 36 miles down the Red River in North Dakota. It’s also the most affordable ultra marathon swim out there!
Lake Willoughby, Vermont – was chosen as the US Masters Swimming 5 mile National Championship. This swim in August is a great excuse to visit the Northeast Kingdom and the championship is a bonus if you’re competitive like that. This lake has a special place in my heart as it was the first time that I pushed for a distance greater than a mile, it was my first point to point swim (where I realized I could swim TO PLACES), and later became my first lake to double cross as I further pushed my personal limits and besides that, it’s just plain gorgeous.
If you want to put in more swim miles while you visit the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, consider staying for all of Swim the Kingdom Week to check out a different lake each day.
Pacific Open Water Swim Company is currently taking applications for Tahoe and supports a plethora of open water swims in the Bay Area. It’s inspiring following them on Instagram! Can’t wait to meet these guys in July!
Here are a few of my favorites that will be opening registration soon:
Portland Bridge Swim registration opens on January 1st. The swim is the first weekend in July. Swim under 12 bridges over 11 miles down the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It’s fun swimming through downtown and seeing the city sites from the water.
Mercer Island Marathon Swim, on Lake Washington, outside of Seattle. I had the distinct pleasure of doing this event in 2018 and just loved it. Registration is planned to open in early January for an end of May date for 2019.
On February 1st Swim the Suck registration opens, this one fills up fast. My husband and I took our first trip to Tennessee last October for this swim and I certainly hope it won’t be our last, I loved it! This is an awesome event complete with beer, taco bar, and custom pottery mug on completion.
If none of these tickle your fancy, check out the LongSwims Database to see all of the marathon swim events (10K or longer) out there!
How is your 2019 planning going? What are you signed up for? What are your favorite marathon swims or limit pushing events?