Skip to content
Swim Groupings (Triple Crown, O7, etc.)
IronMike
Northern VirginiaCharter Member
I read with interest in the latest USMS Swimmer magazine about a grouping of swims I'd never heard of: The Still Water Eight.
It got me thinking. What other potential groupings are there out there? How about a grouping of Down the River Swims (Swim the Suck, the Navia in Spain)? How about 'Round Island Swims (Jersey, Manhattan)? Any other ideas out there?
It got me thinking. What other potential groupings are there out there? How about a grouping of Down the River Swims (Swim the Suck, the Navia in Spain)? How about 'Round Island Swims (Jersey, Manhattan)? Any other ideas out there?
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Tagged:
Comments
loneswimmer.com
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, Santa Barbara, San Nicolas, San Clemente, and... Catalina!
And Michigan has so many lakes you could do a mile (or whatever distance) in every county.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
The number of Finger Lakes is either 11 or 12. I've only swum in one of them... Canandaigua for a 2 mile USMS national championship a couple of years ago. Due to a lightning event, the race was cut short and results relied heavily on the honor system. A few revisions were made days after the event, but still, I'm pretty certain I was robbed... I won't name names. Moving forward.....
This would be a good week's work:
SKANEATELES - 16 miles
OWASCO - 11 miles
CAYUGA - 40 miles
SENECA - 38 miles
KEUKA - 20 miles
CANANDAIGUA - 15.5 miles
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Some hiker's are into high-pointing-reaching the highest point in every state. What an adventure that would be-cross the longest tangent of the largest lake in all 50 states. Some would be easy, some would be monumental.
Swim the Sound (maybe Block Island to Point Judith to keep it in NE)
Cape Cod Bay
Lake Memphremagog Crossing
or a more accessible
Boston Light
Kingdom 10 miler
...drawing a blank, you get the idea. I don't think these swims should have accessible swims on them, it should be a remarkable achievement.
This is something I have organized but I hope that it becomes an Open Water Event in Arizona in the future!
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
I love that one! What a fabulous idea.
How about the Triple Crown of the English Channel. English Channel (England to France), Round Jersey and English Channel (Jersey to France).
I only suggest that because I've done the EC and now fancy the other two! (Can't currently justify the costs of the original Triple Crown, i.e. MIMS and Catalina Channel).
Still liking the river idea, what with END-Wet added to the mix. Swim the Suck, END-Wet, any other iconic river swims?
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Um, 8 Bridges.
Didn't have a name for the grouping at the time, but now I call it "the past".
That's a great one. But which one of the 8 Bridges could be added to a River group? Looking more at a series of single river swims, like StS and END-Wet...8 Bridges itself is already a great group.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Unfortunately it wasn't so rich, but it was an interesting experience to have under my belt. That was the year of Tempe short course nationals in 103 degree heat, and the 10K open water in 57 degree water. So, I already saw some problems with USMS and swimmer safety.
I bet there's a couple under the radar people out there that have hit all of them. I know @evmo and I got close in 2010. We both did all 5 open water champs and SCY champs in Atlanta. I'm pretty sure I did the one hour postal that year as well, but I don't think I did the other postals though.
We know nobody did it before 2003, and nobody did it up until the point when I left in 2009. If someone's done it since then, it's not something I've heard about, but it could be easily traced in results on the USMS web site. (someone else can do that, LOL!)
As a side note, I believe one or two swimmers before me did all the long distance postal and open water championships (Bob Beach, maybe George Brunstad) in the same year, but they didn't do the SCY and LCM pool national championships those years.
http://notdrowningswimming.com - open water adventures of a very ordinary swimmer
That swim is on my list of swims I want to do. This year, unfortunately, I don't have the time or the money to add another swim.
All this talk about the Triple Crown in another thread reminded me of this old thread.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
And there is the river swim in Pittsburgh I think...and/or the one near Philly?
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Just to be more ornery.. the 07 is also a manufactured name. Some now are calling it the "most difficult" or "most dangerous", neither of which I agree with. But that's just me being ornery.Most expensive, yes.
What about a grouping that's as much about the swims themselves, as the quality of the organizations that administer/promote them. These swims must:
These seem like the basic minimum requirements of any credible local marathon swimming governing organization. English Channel & Catalina would obviously qualify, as would Santa Barbara (with which I am most familiar) and a few others.
(Multi-participant races are a somewhat different ball of wax than solo swims, but I would also consider 8 Bridges to have a very high level of credibility.)
Sad to say, several legs of the "Oceans Seven" would not qualify.
We could call it the "Credible Five" (or whatever number it ends up being). The number could expand as other organizations step up their game.
Other criteria? Other nominations for swims/organizations?
The event has to be fun....
The IJsselmeer crossing would qualify.
Also the North Channel N.-Ireland-Scotland or v.v. (ILDSA).
Milko
https://db.marathonswimmers.org/p/milko-van-gool/
Reading the discussion about TC, I was thinking about a sort of TC based around the EC. It would be something like EC, Jersey to France and Round Jersey. Niek thought it sounded like an EC Champion of Champions. Capital idea, Niek. :-)
Maybe a better question would be, since at the root of all marathon swims is a selfish-in-the-best-sense-of-the-word interest: what is your Triple Crown?
What three swims do you aspire to complete or have you completed? I suppose we could let Huntington Beach, CA define our goals for us, or we could all define our own. I'm much more interested in hearing about those, or groupings like @KatieBun's TC-EC, than some arbitrary, unconnected swims strung together with a catchy name.
For example, future me is thinking about a set of marathon swims between Puget Sound lighthouses (128k over 6 swims from Tacoma to Dungeness Spit, finishers get the title "Keeper of the Light", working title). Or along Washington State Ferry routes (149k over 8 swims if I'm counting right).
I don't wear a wetsuit; it gives the ocean a sporting chance.
Sorry @ZoeSadler, @Malinaka ... not my idea. I missed this, as I wasn't a forum member in 2012. Zoe only has the shortest one of the three left to do. :-)
My 'Triple Crown' would be:
The three routes across Issyk Kul described here.
Or
Three lakes in Kyrgyzstan. Probably Issyk Kul (8 or 20 miles), Song Kul (16 miles) and Chatyr Kul (13 miles).
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
Hmmm.... From https://www.worldopenwaterswimmingassociation.com/sanctions/rules-regulations/:
Patrick McKnight just completed his Triple Crown in a record breaking 34 days.
That's pretty cool!
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2016/08/patrick-mcknight-sets-triple-crown.html?m=1
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Thought of this old thread again when I read the news of a new triple crown, this time in the Tennessee river! Hobbs Island (5 miles), Bridge to Bluffs 10K, and Swim the Suck (10 miles) make up the triple crown. Really looking forward to doing StS again and now those other two swims. More info on my blog and in the DNOWS.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
18- 20 months ago, I realised I'd never manage amazing things like the Oceans Seven, so I decided to make my own bucket list..... the Swimbunny 7..... which has been a blast as a goal. Based on what I'd done already, I added a few and made it 2 x lakes, 2 x channels, 2 x island circumnavigations and one wild card.... which is booked and will be Jersey to France because I want to go back and swim with Matt and Lionheart again. I think that'll probably do me. More crewing, shorter events and kayaking will be enough........ possibly...... resolutely stops looking for irresistible swims
I'd be very interested to know.....if you had to choose just your own bespoke 7, what would they be?
Triple Crown and Oceans Seven are a reference in Marathon Swimming, and I consider that one has to complete these or other "majors" in order to show excellence in the sport. In addition, this year I am pursuing a different grouping by doing a challenging swim in each of the seven continents ("Continents Seven") - my picks being Rottnest-Robben-Titicaca-English Channel-Catalina-HK Clean Half-Antarctica - just to take into account South America and Antarctica, and to incorporate elements like ice and attitude. But the good thing about OWS is that possibilities are endless - Happy swimming!
No need to argue it, @GlobalSwimmer ...... just do it! If it appeals to other swimmers, they'll also do it..... or they'll develop their own.
@KatieBun, I had a plan to swim five lakes in Kyrgyzstan, called it Besh Kul (Kyrgyz for 5 lakes), but found that the logistics for just one (Issyk Kul) were so onerous that I would just stick to that one.
That one being the #2 largest alpine lake in the world, I then started looking at doing top 5 largest alpine lakes. There's a 7km swim in Titicaca (#1) each year, so thought I'd hit that one in 2019. Already did #2 in 2017. Lake Van (#3) in Turkey is questionable; not sure they do any organized swims there. Tana (#4) in Ethiopia, also not sure if they do any swims there. Almost stationed there in 2014. Missing opportunity? Khövsgöl Nuur (#5) in Mongolia? Who the hell knows.
Outside the top 5. Planned on swimming lake Sevan in Armenia with one of the Russian OW groups, but politics screwed me outta that one. And Tahoe's on my wish list.
Bottom line, despite me starting this thread years ago, I've got no 7-count grouping that I'm now working towards.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams