Swim Miami is an open-water swimming event held annually in south Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. This year’s event will take place on April 9th, 2011, on Watson Island. Today the event is owned and operated by the H2O’s Foundation, a foundation dedicated to eradicating drowning in south Florida. The swim also helps to develop open-water swimming as an Olympic-style sport in Florida.

History

The original Swim Miami began in 1989 by Jimmy Woodman, founder of Active.com, in conjunction with Florida Sports Magazine and continued successfully through 1998. In 2005, Miami Sports International, a subsidiary of Swim Gym Aquatics, led by four-year University of Florida

University of Florida

The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

 swimming captain Jonathan Strauss, then restored the event and adapted it to the future of open water swimming.

The original idea and concepts for Swim Miami came about due to a demand to bring open-water swimming to the forefront of aquatic sports with intentions of developing it into an Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 sport. It was also created as a way for swimmers to give back to the sport that was able to give them a life of health and fitness.

Swim Miami’s growth and popularity can largely be accredited to its focus on Olympic-style swimming and its elite swim field. Past Olympians and professionals to swim in the event have included Gary Hall, Jr.

Gary Hall, Jr.

For his father, also an Olympian, see Gary Hall, Sr.Gary Wayne Hall, Jr. is an American swimmer who competed in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics and won ten Olympic medals ....

, Milorad Čavić

Milorad Cavic

Milorad Čavić is an American-born Serbian swimmer.-Swimming career:...

, George Bovell

George Bovell

George Bovell III is a three-time Olympic swimmer from Trinidad and Tobago. He represented the country at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the men's 200 IM:the 9th medalist in the country's history and 12th medal overall...

, Ricardo Monasterio

Ricardo Monasterio

Ricardo Andrés Monasterio Guimaraes is a Venezuelan international swimmer who represented his native country in the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics.Monasterio was born in Caracas, Venezuela...

, Anthony Ervin

Anthony Ervin

Anthony Lee Ervin is a former American swimmer. He has won two Olympic medals and two World Championship golds....

, Ed Moses

Ed Moses (swimmer)

Glenn Edward Moses, Jr. is an Olympic and former World Record holding breaststroke swimmer from the United States. He swam for the USA at the 2000 Olympics, where he won a gold and silver medal....

, Nathan Adrian

Nathan Adrian

Nathan Adrian is an American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist who currently holds the American record in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle ....

, Robert Strauss, and Tiffany Cohen

Tiffany Cohen

Tiffany Lisa Cohen is a double gold champion in swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics .Cohen is Jewish....

.

Current day

Swim Miami takes place in April annually. Originally staged at the Miami Rowing Club in Key Biscayne, FL, the event moved to the Miami Yacht Club on Watson Island (Miami) in 2011. Swim Miami currently consists of four swims: a ten-kilometer swim, a four-kilometer swim, the Miami Mile, and an eight-hundred meter swim.

Once restored, Swim Miami was first sponsored by the brand Speedo

Speedo

Speedo International Ltd. is a manufacturer and distributor of swimwear and swim-related accessories. Founded in Australia in 1914, the industry leading company is now a subsidiary of Pentland Group Plc. Today, the Speedo brand can be found on products ranging from swimsuits and goggles to wrist...

 from 2005-06. Sponsorship has since switched to the Nike Swim brand, licensed and owned by Perry Ellis International

Perry Ellis International

Perry Ellis International is an international marketer of clothing, offering a diverse portfolio of brands through multiple distribution channels; focusing mostly on sportswear and casual clothing for niche markets...

.

Due to strong popular branding of both the swim and its location, the event is well patronized by the general public, attracting upwards of 2,000 combined participants and spectators in the four race categories.