OCEAN CITY — Swim Ocean City is preparing for the second annual event being held on Saturday, July 19 at 10 a.m. and organizers expect to double the number of participants this year.
The first annual Swim Ocean City event raised over $22,000 for the Johns Hopkins Brain Rehabilitation Program.
This year’s event will feature the addition of the paddleboard competition that is being organized and sponsored by Walk On Water. The addition of this event spurred the new concept of “Ocean Games,” which will present both the swim and paddleboard events. The goal of Ocean Games is to add additional water sporting events each year for a weekend that will bring over 1,000 participants and spectators to Ocean City.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for both swimmers and paddlers to challenge their abilities in open water, and more importantly to be a part of the good work being performed by the Johns Hopkins Brain Rehabilitation Program,” said Crossing Currents Aquatics Swim Coach Traci McNeil, a life‐long open water swimmer who successfully completed an English Channel Swim in 1994. “The Ocean City Swim is patterned to provide the novice and experienced open water swimmer alike a safe and structured environment. The swims run parallel to the shoreline and the SUP CUP race will be out and back starting at N. Division Street. Both are conducted in cooperation with the phenomenal Ocean City Beach Patrol and Coast Guard.”
The swim was conceived by Corey Davis of Berlin who was treated at the Johns Hopkins Brain Rehabilitation Program following a brain injury he suffered in a motorcycle accident.
For the swim events, there will be various staggered starting points based on distances selected. The nine-mile swim starts at 10 a.m. and begins near the
The swim course is shown in this graphic with the various starting points for the different distances.
Inlet. The three-mile swim starts at 11 a.m. and begins at 93rd Street. The one-mile swim starts at 11:30 a.m. and begins at 131st Street. The finish lines for all swimmers is 145th Street.
The paddleboard events will be hosted on N. Division Street and divided into two groups — the open race, which begins at 10:30 a.m. and elite race, which begins at 11:30 a.m. Along with the races, there will be family fun activities organized.
In the open race, paddlers will start from the beach and completed three laps around a rectangular course before finishing on the beach. Distance and direction of course will be decided on race day based on conditions, but organizers expect it to be about three miles.
In the elite race, paddlers will start from the beach and complete four laps around the rectangular course with a beach run in between laps. Each lap will be approximately ¾ of a mile with distance and direction decided on race day.