Long-distance Swimming

Long-distance swimming is distinguished from ordinary swimming in that the distances involved are longer than are typically swum in pool competitions. When a given swim calls more on endurance than on outright speed, it is the more likely to be considered a long-distance swim. Long-distance swims, however, may take place in pools, such as ultra-long distances swum in 1997 by Grant Robinson and Kelly Driffield (24hr swims of a 50m-long pool, approx 100 km) . Some of the more well-known long-distance swims are crossings of the English Channel, Catalina Channel, and Cook Strait.

Ultra-long distance swimming is sometimes referred to as marathon swimming. The minimum distance that constitutes a marathon swim has dramatically shortened over time. Different organizations adopt various minimum distances.

Long-distance swims tend to fall into one of two categories: (1) swims in which the start date and start time are chosen by the individual swimmer (often called solo-swims), and (2) swims that involve a group-start.

There are other major marathon swims around the world, including the Fehmarn Belt, a strait connecting the Bay of Kiel and the Bay of Mecklenburg in the western part of the Baltic Sea between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland.