Longest time spent swimming

What is the longest amount of time you've spent swimming without getting out of the water?

There is a record for swimming the length of Okanagan Lake in BC which is I believe 107 km in length and the time was just under 41 hours. A record like this is so impressive to me because of the time elapsed. It also begs the question how you would prepare for such a feat.

So whats the longest amount of time and distance you've done at one time.

nooravalkonenmiklcct

Comments

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    How is this even a question, the record part I mean? We have Sarah Thomas in our midst. Isn't her swim the longest?

    miklcctrxleakemMLambyKatieBunrlmdpm50minagregoc

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • Kate_AlexanderKate_Alexander Spring Lake, MichiganSenior Member

    6 hours. I lose track of time after about 20 minutes. It takes me 1 hour to warm up completely. The pressure on my eyes from the goggles starts at about two hours. Pressure on my neck and ears from the cap starts at about 4 hours. That’s the only way I can tell time when I’m swimming. At the end of any long swim it always feels mentally like I’ve been swimming for about 20 minutes.

    SolonooravalkonenMLambymusclewhale89
  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    @IronMike said:
    How is this even a question, the record part I mean? We have Sarah Thomas in our midst. Isn't her swim the longest?

    I am aware of her accomplishments. I was trying to start a conversation about swimming for a time much longer than a typical marathon swim. I am interested in the mindset and effects on the body when you do something like these feats that take over 24 hours to complete.

    nooravalkonenIronMikerlmmiklcct
  • emkhowleyemkhowley Boston, MACharter Member

    Define "swimming..."

    There is a whole subset of marathon swimming history related to "endurance floating" rather than actual swimming. It was quite the fad among women like Agnes Beckwith (a Victoria British swimming sensation) and Myrtle Huddleston (first woman to swim Catalina Channel) to stage days-long floating and swimming demonstrations. Myrtle Huddleston was a champ at this discipline

    sosophiaphiaJSwimKarenTPasqualeevmoSoloIronMikeMLambyLakeBaggermiklcctSwimmersuzgregoc

    Stop me if you've heard this one...
    A grasshopper walks into a bar...
    https://elainekhowley.com/

  • KarenTKarenT Charter Member

    And now I’ll be spending the rest of the day researching endurance tree sitting....

    evmoSolorlmemkhowleyMvGdpm50Bridgetminagregoc
  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    I apologize. I did not realize the confusion I was going to bring by asking this community what the longest amount of time they've spent swimming in a single session was.

    Adam Ellenstein swam across Okanagan lake in BC, Canada which is 106.6km and it took him 40 hours 57 minutes of nonstop swimming to accomplish this task. By this, I mean he was in the water without touching a boat for 40 hours and 57 minutes whilst swimming 106.6km.

    My question, to the people of this community, is do YOU specifically have any experience in an endurance event similar to something like this AKA much longer than your typical 10-15km marathon swim?

    All I want is to hear your stories if you've done something like this OR to see what the longest amount of unbroken swimming you have done.

    nooravalkonenrlmmiklcct
  • nooravalkonennooravalkonen FinlandNew Member
    edited February 2020

    Well I think you started an interesting and relevant discusssion! I’d love to hear stories, too. ☺️

    @musclewhale89 said:
    My question, to the people of this community, is do YOU specifically have any experience in an endurance event similar to something like this AKA much longer than your typical 10-15km marathon swim?

    All I want is to hear your stories if you've done something like this OR to see what the longest amount of unbroken swimming you have done.

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    @musclewhale89 said:
    Adam Ellenstein swam across Okanagan lake in BC, Canada which is 106.6km and it took him 40 hours 57 minutes of nonstop swimming to accomplish this task. By this, I mean he was in the water without touching a boat for 40 hours and 57 minutes whilst swimming 106.6km.

    This swim was done in a wetsuit. The focus of this forum is non-wetsuit swimming.

    MvGMLambylakespray
  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    @evmo said:

    @musclewhale89 said:
    Adam Ellenstein swam across Okanagan lake in BC, Canada which is 106.6km and it took him 40 hours 57 minutes of nonstop swimming to accomplish this task. By this, I mean he was in the water without touching a boat for 40 hours and 57 minutes whilst swimming 106.6km.

    This swim was done in a wetsuit. The focus of this forum is non-wetsuit swimming.

    Marathon swimming is already a very small selection of people. Are we trying to make that number even smaller by not having discussions about long swims just because they were done with a wet suit?

    I love swimming, whether it is in an ocean, lake, or pool. Whether it is 1000m, 5km, or 100+km. Whether you wear a speedo, wetsuit, goggles, fins, neoprene, etc... Why cant we just have an inclusive conversation about different types of swimming?

    I know I am new to this forum but it seems to be a place where certain people are not respected, and certain types of swimming aren't respected as incredible feats of endurance.

    Swimming is already full of outcasts, why would you want to make it even more exclusive by not acknowledging other types of swimming?

    nooravalkonenmiklcct
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited February 2020

    You are reading too much into my comment.

    The norm in this community is to specify the wetsuit when referring to swims done in wetsuits. You are new here, so perhaps you were not aware of this.

    There's also a question of relevance. The nature of the challenges of wetsuit swimming are quite different to those of skin swimming. As one example, I'd imagine the flotation of a wetsuit might allow a swimmer to sleep while floating - impossible in most cases for a skin swimmer, and a huge advantage in 24/36/48+ hour swims.

    If you are frustrated at others' responses to your question, consider that how you framed the question may not invite the sort of comments you're seeking.

    IronMikeCopelj26MvGMLamby
  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    @evmo Apparently it wasn't clear when I made the original post. @Kate_Alexander answered exactly how I was expecting people to respond.

    I used the swim across the Okanagan as an example of what I was referring to.

    My question stands, I just want to know (gear or no gear) what is the longest amount of time people have swam at one time without getting out of the water... Stories and experience is all I am after..

    nooravalkonenmiklcct
  • brunobruno Barcelona (Spain)Senior Member

    @musclewhale89 said:
    I love swimming, whether it is in an ocean, lake, or pool. Whether it is 1000m, 5km, or 100+km. Whether you wear a speedo, wetsuit, goggles, fins, neoprene, etc... Why cant we just have an inclusive conversation about different types of swimming?
    I know I am new to this forum but it seems to be a place where certain people are not respected, and certain types of swimming aren't respected as incredible feats of endurance.

    Swimming with a wetsuit and swimming without a wetsuit are different sports. Basically due to flotation and protection from cold provided by wetsuits. With a wetsuit, you only have to move your arms (of course, doing this fast and/or for a long time is not easy). But without it, you have to withstand the cold, force your contracted muscles to move, and use (I'd say) 50% of your effort just to keep floating. But we all know this.

    Anyone mixing both (or swims with other gear involved) is being disrespectful, conscious or not, to those amazing people able to marathon swim for 15, 24 o 50 hours.

    That said, any of the swims listed in https://marathonswimmers.org/swims/ are amazing stories, worth a read. And as you are interested in records, in the Database https://longswims.com/ there are specific sections for records.

    evmoCopelj26MLamby
  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    @bruno I appreciate the links, I will have to read those threads.

    However, when you say "Anyone mixing both (or swims with other gear involved) is being disrespectful, to those people able to marathon swim..." is that the consensus attitude of this forum?

    Is Ross Edgley considered disrespectful? Is Adam Ellenstein disrespectful? If so, I might have to reconsider my involvement in this forum. I love the information and conversations about swimming on here but if thats truly how the majority of people feel on here I may have made a mistake.

    miklcct
  • brunobruno Barcelona (Spain)Senior Member

    Of course there are amazing assisted swims out there. What I consider disrespectful is mixing, and/or comparing those swims with non-assisted, because they are not at all the same.

    This is easily solved by adding "assisted" to the description of the swim.

    IronMikeMLamby
  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    @musclewhale89 said:
    However, when you say "Anyone mixing both (or swims with other gear involved) is being disrespectful, to those people able to marathon swim..." is that the consensus attitude of this forum?

    Is Ross Edgley considered disrespectful? Is Adam Ellenstein disrespectful? If so, I might have to reconsider my involvement in this forum. I love the information and conversations about swimming on here but if thats truly how the majority of people feel on here I may have made a mistake.

    Muscle Whale, I think those who swim wetsuits and then claim to be Channel swimmers are disrespectful to actual Channel swimmers. I think those who get charities to support their Channel aspirations, then a couple hours into the swim get on the boat, put on flippers, and continue the swim then claim to be Channel swimmers are disrespectful to actual Channel swimmers. I think those following a white streamer suspended underwater, get aid in putting on a stinger suit, hold onto the boat, then claim to follow the rules of the international marathon swimming community, are disrespectful to actual marathon swimmers. I think those that claim to swim the North channel in January and provide no proof, are disrespectful to actual Channel swimmers.

    Those who clearly state that they'll be swimming a body of water in wetsuits, with flippers, etc., and don't call themselves Channel swimmers afterwards, are not being disrespectful.

    No need to reconsider your involvement. Just understand that the vast majority of forum members here are interested in marathon swimming following the rules and spirit of marathon swimming as stated very clearly in MSF pages.

    I explain these concerns to my triathlete friends like this: If someone told them s/he was an Ironman, but then it came out that the person simply swam 2.4 miles one day, then biked 118 miles the next day, and ran a marathon the day after that, wouldn't you be pissed if you'd done an actual Ironman? Or not so drastic, and something that happened to me a few years ago: Wouldn't you be pissed if on the last buoy before the turn to finish, you were passed by another swimmer (on the wrong side of the buoy, btw, cutting the course) using a pull buoy? Only to then find out that that swimmer was in your same gender/age group? Of course you would.

    nooravalkonenrlmevmoPasqualemke84flystormsangel55MLambyrosemarymintlakespray

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • rlmrlm Senior Member

    "swimming" in a wet suit is a close cousin to riding in a boat!!!

    MLambywendyv34
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited February 2020

    @musclewhale89 sorry I derailed your thread with my wetsuit comment. There are any number of traditional marathon swims in the 40+ hour range (https://longswims.com/longest-swims/).

    It also begs the question how you would prepare for such a feat.

    It's still unclear if you're asking about long-duration unassisted marathon swimming, or long-duration wetsuit swimming. The challenges are very different. Ability to sustain core body temperature becomes extremely important in longer skin swims; much less so in a wetsuit.

    A glance at @ssthomas' career (https://longswims.com/p/sarah-thomas/) is instructive in how one prepares for extremely long swims: Build up to them progressively.

    • 2007, 2008, 2009: 10k
    • 2010: Catalina (32k)
    • 2011: Manhattan (46k w/ current)
    • 2012: English Channel (33k)
    • 2013: SCAR, Tahoe double (68k), Memphremagog double (80k)
    • 2016: Lake Powell (129k)
    • 2017: Lake Champlain (168k)
    • 2019: 4-way English Channel
    PasqualeKatieBunIronMikeJustSwimMvGlakespraySwimmersuzGlobalSwimmermina
  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    @evmo Thank you for the information. I will look into all the things Sarah has done in her career.

    I thought my question was clear when I said "My question stands, I just want to know (gear or no gear) what is the longest amount of time people have swam at one time without getting out of the water... Stories and experience is all I am after.."

    My question was specifically to the people who read this forum. I wanted to hear stories or experiences from the people of this forum who have done extended times swimming. The way @Kate_Alexander replied to this thread is exactly what I was expecting from the responses.

    miklcct
  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    @musclewhale89, for me, the longest I've swum is something over 7 hours without getting out of the water. That was my second "half" of my failed 20 Bridges in 2017. I think a big factor in long-duration swimming for each individual person is how much time can they give to swimming up to their event.

    I've got limited time every week for all the things I want to do, all the hobbies I seem to keep finding interest in, and all the work travel and kid stuff that comes up. For me, I'm happy if about a month out from an event, my week's worth of swimming equals or exceeds my expected time to complete the event. Now, I'm never a threat to anyone in my sex/age group with that training philosophy. But I don't do these swims to win. I do them to complete them.

    musclewhale89MvG

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • KatieBunKatieBun CornwallSenior Member
    edited February 2020

    @musclewhale89 the longest I've been in the water is 16 hours but what I've planned for 2021 will take me longer. I hope I can swim for 20+ hours, since I managed to get myself dressed after 16 hours and was fine the next day. Lots and lots of training to come. Next year I'll be 60 so I'm hoping to celebrate that by testing myself but there are no guarantees of success in this sport.

    SydneDmusclewhale89MvGSolonooravalkonenLakeBaggerBridget
  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    @KatieBun That is awesome!! Stories like this is exactly what I was hoping for! I would love to hear more about the 16 hour trek and very excited to hear what your 2021 plans are!

  • MvGMvG MauritiusCharter Member

    My longest is 14 hours - 44 kms (a double IJsselmeer crossing). It felt so bad that I cried after the swim and swore to my family that I was done marathon swimming. (But a few days later I was already planning my next swim... 🙄)

    How anyone can swim 24 or even 40+ hours is beyond me...

    KatieBunPasqualeBogdanZIronMikeSolonooravalkonenLakeBaggermiklcct
  • BogdanZBogdanZ Bucharest, RomaniaSenior Member

    @MvG said:
    My longest is 14 hours - 44 kms (a double IJsselmeer crossing). It felt so bad that I cried after the swim and swore to my family that I was done marathon swimming. (But a few days later I was already planning my next swim... 🙄)

    How anyone can swim 24 or even 40+ hours is beyond me...

    After my 8hrs IJsselmeer 2019, one way - a second way would have been suicidal :smile:

    miklcctMvG
  • MLambyMLamby Senior Member

    I think the overall discussion snafu here is that you asked people how long they have SWAM at one time. As EvMo and others have pointed out, the consensus opinion on this site is that if you are wearing a wetsuit, you may not necessarily be SWIMMING the whole time. You honestly could just be floating. SO, if you wanted wetsuit aided swims to be included in responses, maybe you should have asked "how long have you spent in the water at one time." SWIMMING in a wetsuit could be compared to roller skating and claiming you are running. All the best!

  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    @MLamby All is good, were back on track here and I think the majority of people figured out what I was asking...

    MvGflystorms
  • KatieBunKatieBun CornwallSenior Member

    @musclewhale89 said:
    @KatieBun That is awesome!! Stories like this is exactly what I was hoping for! I would love to hear more about the 16 hour trek and very excited to hear what your 2021 plans are!

    I think I'll just go and see if I can do it. That's as far as my sharing goes. I did understand your original question but I'm also of the opinion that wetsuit swimming isn't a comparable sport. I wish you no offence but I once replied angrily to somebody on Facebook who said that not everybody could acclimatise. I told him I suffered to do it, cried into my goggles, shivered, worked at it for years and still struggle with it every time I have to do a qualifier. It can be done, maybe not by everybody because of certain medical conditions, but most could work at it if they really wanted to. I don't care what people wear to swim but I don't want my results mixed up with those of neoprene clad swimmers. That's all. Just separate them.... in recognition of the wetsuited swimmers' extra buoyancy, streamlining and warmth (which, of course, means that muscles are more efficient for longer.)

    evmoMLambyCopelj26flystormsSoloAzskithelittlemerwookieLakeBaggerssthomaswendyv34
  • AzskiAzski ArizonaMember

    A couple years ago, I swam for 15:29 in the Pacific. I felt that I was about at my limit for that day. I was uncomfortable from the start. I ate too much too close to the start. Upset stomach caused altered feeds. I wasn't acclimated enough, cold was creeping in. Hips cramping. I was able to find that altered state. Just kept moving to the next feed, then the next. I really slowed down, yet, when, within 500yds(?) to finish, I was confident enough(mentally+physically) to roll on my back and float for a few breaths( to the major distress of my crew who imagined I might quit with 10 minutes left to swim) I noticed that I was breathing heavely and rapid. Confusing for moving so slow and stiff.
    I guess 15 plus hours took its tole.
    Enjoyed the successful completion of the challenge!
    The salt water swelled my throat and tongue. Worse during recovery post swim than during swim.
    Ready for more though! Just gotta get better at handling the cold.
    And the salt, and the distance, and the feeds........and....

    MvGMLambyKatieBunevmomusclewhale89miklcctSoloLakeBaggerIronMike
  • AzskiAzski ArizonaMember
    edited February 2020

    @KatieBun said; I once replied angrily to somebody on Facebook who said that not everybody could acclimatise. I told him I suffered to do it, cried into my goggles, shivered, worked at it for years and still struggle with it every time I have to do a qualifier.

    Thank you for this @KatieBun. Especially coming from you, this means a lot to me. Thanks for sharing and giving us the insight that even the best channel swimmers must work hard and struggle with cold acclimation. I can no longer whimper about
    " not having the right physiology for this TORTURE!!", as I sit shivering, in July in Arizona, in my flooded chest freezer.

    LakeBaggermiklcctflystorms
  • LakeBaggerLakeBagger Central OregonSenior Member

    The longest I’ve been in the water so far is over 10.5 hours—three times. These were unassisted swims, so naturally, no wetsuit. There’s not much to report on the experiences. One hour just leads to the next and to the next and eventually it’s time to get out. I don’t think I’ve maxed out my capacity for being in the water so I guess I’ll just keep going longer until I run into some sort of limit.

    For preparation, I just do a lot of swimming. Swimming in the pool, swimming in water under 40F, swimming in water above 40F, swimming in water that is above 60F, swimming in lakes, rivers and occasionally the ocean. When I was a kid, my team sometimes swam as much as 15,000 meters/day, day after day. So I’ve done a lot of swimming for many years and I believe that’s led to a body position that’s very floaty and not too difficult to sustain for the better part of a day or night. However, I know many people who did not grow up swimming a lot who have been able to complete very long swims as well. I believe they work on a lot of technique as well as doing a lot of swimming to prepare. Best wishes to you in your endeavors!

    miklcctCopelj26musclewhale89
  • LakeBaggerLakeBagger Central OregonSenior Member

    Also @emkhowley that is really fascinating! I had no idea people had done endurance floating and I’m super intrigued by it. Maybe I should consider trying to revive it :D

    miklcct
  • MLambyMLamby Senior Member

    My longest has been an 8 hour lake swim in Northern Wisconsin. Bummer of a cross current through parts of it. I couldn't lift my left arm for two days afterward because of having to work so hard to get through that cross current each time I encountered it.

    MvGmusclewhale89
  • My longest "swim" was in Varadero (Cuba)! Top of the top! Best of the best! Maybe 20h in water!
    Unforgettable!)))

    SoloMLamby
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited February 2020

    OK, I'll play.

    My four longest swims had less than an hour difference among them in elapsed time. Tampa Bay (8:50), RT Angel Island (8:51), Catalina Channel (8:55), and Santa Cruz Island to Oxnard (9:47). Each was quite challenging in its own way: Tampa Bay and Catalina because I took them out too fast; SB Channel due to crap conditions; and Angel Island due to 11C water temp.

    Some day as a personal challenge I'd like to do a 24 hour+ swim. I have so much respect for swimmers who've managed to swim nonstop for a full day - to me it's one of the iconic feats of our sport, regardless of the route. The 2 and even 3-day nonstop swims are so astounding as to defy comprehension - even though I've watched one in person.

    rlmSoloPasqualeGuyco111KatieBunnooravalkonenMLambyMvGIronMikeGlobalSwimmer
  • SoloSolo B.C. CanadaSenior Member

    14 hrs, rough windy conditions, 11 degree water, in the Salish Sea. Was about 3km short of completing the swim and had to quit because my boat had to be in the yacht basin by 7:00 pm. I enjoyed every second of that swim.

    Guyco111MLambyKate_AlexanderMvG
  • SaltySalishSaltySalish Nanaimo, BC, CanadaMember

    @musclewhale89, I appreciate this threat. Thanks for putting it up.

    I'm a newbie at this, and am super inspired by everyone's sharing. Since joining this forum, I'm steadily building distance, and it's nice to have an online community to feel apart of. I'm just getting "my toes wet" with my first 10km this summer, and will likely use a wetsuit. Though perhaps not the purest swimmers yet (as many have mentioned), I'm proud of myself for getting out there! I'm also doing cold water training so also have my sights on OW swimming using MSF channel rules, just not there yet...

    Thus, to hear of these crazy swims (either wetsuit or not) to me is amazing + inspiring. Thanks all for your sharing.

    miklcctSoloMvG
  • Guyco111Guyco111 IsraelMember
    edited February 2020

    Here is my experience at a 24 hour OW swim challenge I have done some 4 years ago:
    The route was along the shoreline in Israel, eastern Mediterranean sea. This was almost my first experience with Marathon swimming, so I was quite ignorant about the difficulties and the depressions along the way. when preparing for a full day swim you need to think about the best time to start / finish. Night swimming is the most difficult part, especially when you know that you will be out there for the full night regardless of when you start. So I decided to go out from 9 AM till 9 AM on the following day - this way the night starts half way, but you reach the final morning hours with the beautiful sunrise on the last portion of the swim, which makes the most difficult part of the swim a lot easier, mentally!
    the first 10 hours flew by that i can hardly remember it. then when the darkness kicked in, and my escort team reported i was nearly half through i reached the bottom and fell into a dark hole. (Note for support team - never tell your swimmer doing a 24 hour swim that he is half-way through after being 12 hours in the water... this is not encouraging at all). I needed a lot of mental work to keep myself going stroke after stroke all through the moonless dark night, far out in the Mediterranean sea.
    But the glory of the sunrise at 5 am was worth it, for all the struggling and the lonely hours at night. The last 4 hours where some of the most memorable hours in my life. The feeling of the accomplishment, the happiness of overcoming my dark moments and the distance. The GPS measured 70 km in 24 hours. it was much more than I expected to cover. In the following years I also swam Catalina, the EC, 20 bridges-Manhattan swim, and numerous Galilee crossings, but this first big swim was my longest and for sure the best swim I have ever done.

    PasqualeKatieBunhippojapanStephenCopelj26MLambySoloMvGevmothelittlemerwookieDuganaddyjwhitlockfnp
  • MvGMvG MauritiusCharter Member
    edited February 2020

    @Guyco111 said:
    Here is my experience at a 24 hour OW swim challenge I have done some 4 years ago:
    The route was along the shoreline in Israel, eastern Mediterranean sea. This was almost my first experience with Marathon swimming, so I was quite ignorant about the difficulties and the depressions along the way. when preparing for a full day swim you need to think about the best time to start / finish. Night swimming is the most difficult part, especially when you know that you will be out there for the full night regardless of when you start. So I decided to go out from 9 AM till 9 AM on the following day - this way the night starts half way, but you reach the final morning hours with the beautiful sunrise on the last portion of the swim, which makes the most difficult part of the swim a lot easier, mentally!
    the first 10 hours flew by that i can hardly remember it. then when the darkness kicked in, and my escort team reported i was nearly half through i reached the bottom and fell into a dark hole. (Note for support team - never tell your swimmer doing a 24 hour swim that he is half-way through after being 12 hours in the water... this is not encouraging at all). I needed a lot of mental work to keep myself going stroke after stroke all through the moonless dark night, far out in the Mediterranean sea.
    But the glory of the sunrise at 5 am was worth it, for all the struggling and the lonely hours at night. The last 4 hours where some of the most memorable hours in my life. The feeling of the accomplishment, the happiness of overcoming my dark moments and the distance. The GPS measured 70 km in 24 hours. it was much more than I expected to cover. In the following years I also swam Catalina, the EC, 20 bridges-Manhattan swim, and numerous Galilee crossings, but this first big swim was my longest and for sure the best swim I have ever done.

    Mindboggling stuff @Guyco111. A 70 kms swim - respect!

    You raise an interesting point that I have been thinking about while daydreaming about future swims - how to time a 24(+) hour swim, esp. whether to put the night part at the beginning, the middle or the end. I have never done one, but would be inclined to put it in the beginning or the middle. Interesting to see you that kept the night part until only 4 hours before the end.
    Would you time it differently next time?
    Do others with such long swims under their belts have advice on this issue?

    PasqualeLakeBagger
  • Guyco111Guyco111 IsraelMember
    edited February 2020

    @MvG said:

    You raise an interesting point that I have been thinking about while daydreaming about future swims - how to time a 24(+) hour swim, esp. whether to put the night part at the beginning, the middle or the end.
    Would you time it differently next time?

    Definitely not at the end. I would do it again in the same way, or keep the night swim for the middle part.
    Also starting at night doesn't seem to be right. I believe that mentally, when you overcome the night part and you have less than half way to go, it is much easier.

    MvG
  • dpm50dpm50 PA, U.S.Senior Member
    edited February 2020

    I'll jump in here... But w a confession...still working on the not touching boat thing. I managed that aspect in Spuyten Duyvil, but as that was a 2 hr swim in the Hudson w the current pushing me, I'm not sure it counts despite being a 10k. (Non wetsuit category tho). Heckuva fun swim tho!

    But I digress. Longest time spent in the water, MOST of it swimming (but for boat holding to feed--see above admission), 7 hrs, 53 mins.

    Another confession.... that was 8 miles --granted half with but half against the current, but still slow! That said, I didn't wear a wetsuit.

    Next confession (well, you know... Ash Wednesday... a time for admitting one's frailties): I own a wetsuit. But I've noticed that it not only doesn't help my speed; it often inhibits it. We in the Philly area have a series of 6 half-mile open water events throughout the spring and summer, in which wetsuits are allowed. A few years ago, I did the first such swim of the year in a wetsuit. My time in that swim was slower than all the others which I did "skin." In cold water especially, the wetsuit keeps me from doing my usual acclimating breaststroke and then when I switch to freestyle, I feel as if I'm swimming in a straitjacket. Faster? Not so much!

    I'll still do some swims w wetsuits--mainly early in the year when not yet acclimated to cold.

    Of course, when the temp hit 60 last year, I was back to skin and never put on my wetsuit for the rest of the year. This year, goal is to skip the wetsuit altogether.

    SoloBridget
  • SwimSydneySwimSydney SydneyMember

    @MvG said:

    Would you time it differently next time?
    Do others with such long swims under their belts have advice on this issue?

    I've prepared to swim 24+ hours four times now. One time I couldn't choose the start time, it was midday. The second time I could choose the start time and I still chose midday. There's usually lots for the crew to get organised too (loading & unloading cars, getting boat to start point or pickup point, etc.) so an early start for you usually means an even earlier start for your crew. Midday meant they didn't have to get up that early.
    Another time the captain picked 10am and I liked this one. It was late enough that I had a good night's sleep the night before (I don't tend to sleep as well if I know I have a really early start), yet not late enough that I spent too much time wasting energy getting nervous. Also, earlier in the day often means the wind hasn't yet picked up, so you can tend to get a good few kms in and find your happy-all-day-pace before it does.
    Another time the captain opted for a 6pm start due to the weather and we needed to get finished before the forecast storm came in. This was definitely the hardest start time. I find it difficult to sleep during the day, so I'd been awake since about 7am that day already.
    Depending on expected swim time, starting later in the day means you also face swimming into a second night if it's taking longer than you thought it would. Even though I love swimming at night, I still didn't want to head into a second nightfall on that swim as the conditions had been really tough and I was sooo tired. It was a good incentive to get my head down and finish it!

    Solojendutthelittlemerwookie
  • @SwimSydney said:
    Another time the captain picked 10am and I liked this one. It was late enough that I had a good night's sleep the night before (I don't tend to sleep as well if I know I have a really early start), yet not late enough that I spent too much time wasting energy getting nervous. Also, earlier in the day often means the wind hasn't yet picked up, so you can tend to get a good few kms in and find your happy-all-day-pace before it does.

    I think this is really good advice (and a good timeframe). It definitely depends on the swim and exactly how long you think it might take, but all other factors being equal, if you (a) have a choice and (b) think it will take around 24 hours, a late-but-not-too-late morning start can be ideal. You give yourself and your crew time to have a decent night's rest, and you set the stage to both start and finish in daylight. This is what I did (9am start) for two lake swims that I thought might end up around 24 hours. They ended up taking 19:xx and 21:xx but we still had plenty of light.

    For ocean swims, most of the time you won't have a choice. Both times I've gone over 24 hours (28:xx and 26:xx) there's been no option between the weather window and the tide. Best not to stress about it too much!

    KatieBun
  • BridgetBridget New York StateMember

    I'm an odd duck in the group. I prepared for my longest swim by swimming. I started loving open water in 1999. After 2007, I did minimal swimming. I did a 1&2 mile swim event annually in Lake Placid, NY, joking about a full year taper not being for everyone. I had no access to pools in the winter, and lakes here freeze. In 2016, I tried a 10K in Lake George, but I had to leave the course before the fourth and final loop. It was devastating. I know it was just a matter of the marina needing to open, but I had not stayed focused and had not done my best. Not being fast, I knew I could swim a long time. So I started thinking about the lake. . . as a solo. So nobody could tell me time was up before I was finished. I swam into fall, cross trained by hiking, and gained access to an indoor pool about an hour away in January of 2017. And I swam there. . . about 400 miles in Lane 2 before I was able to get back in my lake in May. Pools may not allow for the amount of non stop swimming you had in mind, since you need to get to the restroom, but I logged over ten miles at at time, up to 15 miles by Easter.

    I got a lot of suggestions to do other marathon swims before Lake George I estimated it would take over 24 hours, and was warned by people that it would take a long time and be cold and get dark at night. I had enough trouble finding crew locally, and I had a child in school and several part time jobs. I got used to my lake, its temperatures, what it is like in the moonlight, and so on. I found a group of really generous people to be on my crew, and we set a time- a good time, since my swim of Lake George took place entirely within the time Sarah Thomas was swimming "next door" in Lake Champlain- Lake George actually drains into Lake Champlain via the LaChute River. I swam 32 miles in 28 hours and 6 minutes. The last ten hours and ten miles were hard, since I was in unchartered territory, but I learned a lot. I hope to do it again- pending finding a crew. ;)

    So, #MuscleWhale89, would you consider unofficial swims as worth considering for your question?? I have a shoreline with safe spots to climb onto a dock, and sometimes have a paddler willing to go along, but if I tow a buoy and snack pack, just for a training swim or fun swim, I might keep moving all day. Because for me, it's all about the time swimming. I'm lucky- I swim in known waters- mainly in my lake, or along the shore in Rhode Island, and go for hours. I have lights for my tow buoy for night swims. I've had a rough patch recently, and have gotten my feet wet in my lake for some wading, and I've done a bit in a pool a few times in recent weeks, but I hope to swim my lake this summer. I will build miles, take advantage of being able to get in my lake before and after work, and so on. When I am ready I'll put out feelers for crew- I am already building a network of potential support. THAT is the hard part. Because I will want THIS swim ratified by MSF. It may have to wait until 2021, but I hope not. . . My biggest personal challenge will be mental preparation- I have a grip on nutrition and such, but I've had a lot on my mind lately, and it makes long, steady swims hard. . . Cold swimming has been a lifesaver this winter. And I did manage a mile in the pool Monday. First one in weeks.

    flystormsSoloCopelj26
  • GlobalSwimmerGlobalSwimmer New York NYMember

    @evmo said:
    @musclewhale89 sorry I derailed your thread with my wetsuit comment. There are any number of traditional marathon swims in the 40+ hour range (https://longswims.com/longest-swims/).

    It also begs the question how you would prepare for such a feat.

    It's still unclear if you're asking about long-duration unassisted marathon swimming, or long-duration wetsuit swimming. The challenges are very different. Ability to sustain core body temperature becomes extremely important in longer skin swims; much less so in a wetsuit.

    A glance at @ssthomas' career (https://longswims.com/p/sarah-thomas/) is instructive in how one prepares for extremely long swims: Build up to them progressively.

    • 2007, 2008, 2009: 10k
    • 2010: Catalina (32k)
    • 2011: Manhattan (46k w/ current)
    • 2012: English Channel (33k)
    • 2013: SCAR, Tahoe double (68k), Memphremagog double (80k)
    • 2016: Lake Powell (129k)
    • 2017: Lake Champlain (168k)
    • 2019: 4-way English Channel

    This is so remarkable, and a good indication of the work that is behind any big feat and most people fail to see. Also, for those involved in the sport, we know how difficult it is to stay at the top and to attempt long swims year in year out, not only physically but financially and mentally - let alone if you go through any serious illness in between. RESPECT @ssthomas

    sosophiaphiaSwimmersuzLakeBaggermiklcct
  • musclewhale89musclewhale89 Alberta, CanadaMember

    These are the kind of stories I was hoping for!!! Thank you guys so much for sharing, I truly appreciate it!

    The swims that go over 24 hours are beyond fascinating to me and I love that type of ultra endurance. I have my first 10km swim this September in a lake and I would like to plan a much longer swim after that.

    This last week I was in the Bahamas for vacation and I literally spent the whole week in the water. I did the longest swim that I've done ever on Friday which was only 5km but man did it feel amazing!

    The logistics for training for a swim that takes over 24 hours are another thing that is so cool for me to listen to so thanks again to everyone that has been commenting.

    Openh2oSolo
  • Openh2oOpenh2o Member
    edited March 2020

    Muscle u are N1 for me!
    One week in the Bahamas! Cool!
    This is one of my goal! I hope can do one day!))
    Good luck with u 10km!

  • minamina Newton, MAMember

    10.5+ hrs with swimsuit, cap in fresh water, and confidently could have gone a little longer. I think I've only lasted half that in saltwater, though -- I know some love the added buoyancy of salt, but man did my sinuses burn at the end of that one!

    IronMikeSologregoc
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