What counts as a swim around an island
A race is included on this page only if the course goes around an entire island. In most of them you start and finish at the same point: the Perhentian Island Challenge, in Malaysia, goes from Teluk Pauh Beach to Teluk Pauh Beach over 16 km, and at Rondje Pampus you circle the same fort three times. In others you start from a beach, swim around the island and return to shore: the crossing is part of the race, and these are in a separate group, further down.
The name is not enough. The Tour du Roc in Granville goes around a headland, the Pointe du Roc; the Vuelta al Hacho in Ceuta goes around Monte Hacho, which is a peninsula, and closes the loop through a moat in the city walls; the Swim Around Charleston follows a peninsula between two rivers, and the Periplo Manara, in Liguria, goes around a headland from one point to another. They are real races, but they do not go around an island, and they are not here.
The long circuits: from Manhattan to Levanzo
The 20 Bridges Swim is the circuit of Manhattan: 45.9 km anticlockwise, under twenty bridges, through the East River, the Harlem River and the Hudson, tidal waters that set the start time. With the English Channel and Catalina crossings it makes up the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. Since 2026 it can also be swum as a relay, in teams of two to four, and those who want can do it twice in a row: in 40 Bridges, on the second lap, the Harlem River is swum against the current.
Ischia had its first race around the island on 20 September 2025. Swim Around Ischia starts and finishes at Casamicciola Terme and goes clockwise, past Forio, the Maronti and Sant'Angelo: 30 km, according to the island's press. Further south, the swim around Levanzo of the Egadi Ultra Swim measures 12 km. It starts from Cala Dogana, passes over the wreck of a Roman cargo ship from the 1st century BC, at a depth of 27-30 m, and past Capo Grosso, where the Battle of the Aegates of 241 BC is placed. It can also be swum as a relay, 6 km each, with the changeover at Cala Tramontana.
In warm seas, the Perhentian Island Challenge goes around Perhentian Besar for 16 km anticlockwise, with the water between 28 and 31 °C (82-88 °F): swimmers stay within 200 m of the shore, except at Flora Bay, and each has their own escort boat. In Australia, Swim Around Keppel covers 20 km around Great Keppel Island, on the Great Barrier Reef.
Islands with a history
The swim around Viikinsaari, in Tampere, has been held since 1919, and the organiser presents it as Finland's oldest open water event. It is about 2,100 m in Lake Pyhäjärvi; by 2026 it had reached 88 editions, and Kalevi Salminen has swum it 51 times.
Pampus is a man-made island: a fort completed in 1887 for the Defence Line of Amsterdam, resting on about 4,000 wooden piles and now a UNESCO World Heritage site. At Rondje Pampus, held since 2011, you circle it three times, for 2,700 m in the IJmeer. On Lake Bolsena the swim around the Martana measures 4.5 km: the island is crescent-shaped because it is the half of a volcanic crater that rises above the water, the rest having sunk into the lake, and legend has it that Queen Amalasuntha was killed there.
In Brazil, Alcatrazes is an island closed to the public. Swim Alcatrazes requires permits from ICMBio, the parks authority, and from the Navy, and there are 60 places for the 7 km circuit. In Copenhagen, Christiansborg Rundt goes around Slotsholmen, the island of the palace that houses the Danish Parliament, between the harbour and the canals: one lap measures 2 km and the long race has five. At the first edition, in 2006, there were 260 swimmers. In Kinsale, Ireland, the Sandycove Island Challenge goes around an island inhabited only by wild goats, and the length of the lap, up to about 1,800 m, changes with the tide.
Lake and river islands
On Lake Garda the Giro dell'Isola del Garda measures 6 km, clockwise, from the Baia del Vento to Portese. On Lake Iseo the swim around the Isola di Loreto made its debut in 2026: about 1.8 km from Marone, non-competitive, in memory of Federico Troletti.
In Patagonia people swim around islands in two cold lakes. The Vuelta a la Isla Solitaria, at El Calafate, goes 3 km around an island of just over ten hectares in Lago Argentino, which is fed by glaciers: the water is 10-12 °C (50-54 °F) and wetsuits are compulsory. On Nahuel Huapi, at Bariloche, the Vuelta a la Huemul covers 6.5 km from Playa Bonita to Playa Bonita; in 2026, 84 swimmers finished it.
Rivers have their islands too. In Potsdam the Inselschwimmen goes around the Freundschaftsinsel for 1,700 m, and for half an hour a branch of the Havel is closed to boats. In New York the Roosevelt Island Swim goes up one channel of the East River and down the other, for 6.4 km. In Alabama, Swim Hobbs Island goes around an island in the Tennessee River for 8 km, for charity: each swimmer brings their own kayak, and the current depends on how much water is released by the dams upstream.
From the shore, around the island and back
In many races the island lies offshore and serves as the buoy: you start from the beach, swim all the way around it and come back. In Sydney the Coogee Island Challenge makes a full clockwise circuit of Wedding Cake Island, for 2.4 km, and at the last edition there were more than 2,300 swimmers. In San Francisco the Round Trip Alcatraz starts from St. Francis Beach, goes around Alcatraz and finishes at Aquatic Park: about 6 km, for a maximum of 30 swimmers.
In Albenga, on the 5 km course of Dritti all'Isola, you swim about 1,500 m out to Gallinara, go around it anticlockwise and swim back. In Tasmania the Diamond Island Challenge goes around Diamond Island between Waubs Beach and Redbill Beach: it began in 2009 to raise funds for research into Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease. On Okanagan Lake, in Canada, the 7 km course of the Across the Lake Swim goes out to Rattlesnake Island, around it and back to shore.
