Notes about this History:
OPEN IN NORMAL FULL SCREEN FOR BEST RESULTS
This history is currently a pre-published draft edition, under constant construction & revision.
This is a recollection as told by Jim Cotton, the founder and leader for the first six annual swims, of how the event was created and run in the beginning years for what has become one of the best organized open water swimming events anywhere.
This history has been conceived as a "Live" history, in that we welcome new relevant pictures, information and corrections. Jim can be contacted at 707 539 1894, rsa2@sonic.net.
It is a "story" told roughly chronologically from early times forward but with the navigation tool at the left, any portion can be accessed directly.
Thanks to the principled and steady leadership over the decades, the Swim has evolved into one of, if not THE, best classic, community swims to be found in the world. True there are other types of swim events with greater total entries, but rare is the swim that has our one-swim numbers, modest entry fees, jaw-dropping beauty, perfect water and air temperature with unexcelled management. Thus, it is considered worthy of a complete and rich history of how it became this way and to whom we owe thanks.
As mentioned above, this swim is somewhat unique in being a single, all in one, grand swim for all ages, genders, a non-wetsuit affair without any elilte prohibitions, open to all who think they can swim the 2.4 mile course. The start is staged in seeded waves, on 5 minute intervals, fast first, so as to reduce bumping and to make the finish all the more exciting for the large spectator attendance.
The Swim has no major sponsors, eg "Budweiser Swim", and being a single large event does not have the confusion of modern events with 5 to 15 various sub-events based on age groups, gender, wet suits etc. It is thus, like the classic open-water swims of yesteryear, an event focused on the whole Pacific swim community, not just the modern competitive swim format. Moreover, it is especially welcoming to the local Hawaiian swim community of all levels of skill in hopes of drawing a broad spectrum of local citizens into a healthy community-fostering event.
The Swim has far exceeded the founder's fondest expectations. Swimmers from all over the world have traveled far to participate in our celebration of our bay and ocean. Especially large numbers have trekked from Austrailia, Japan and California. The Swim has had as many as 1344 swimming comfortably together at one time in this world-famous bay and we are currently climbing upward towards that goal again.