Anyone do this swim? What was your experience?
Wow that does look fun! I love the Caribbean and would consider this for the future (already signed up for a 70.3 in the DR end of April). And a 2.5 mile swim is reasonable (for a lot of us). Having recently done the IM WC swim in Kona and absolutely loved it, I think this would be fun. I won’t be competitive, but I’d love to do this for fun and the love of open water swimming. I’ve never done a swim race. Just lots of triathlon swims.
If you like the Caribbean, check out the Tortola Torture race.
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If you like the Caribbean, check out the Tortola Torture race.
You could do the swim on the 6th and then go to Tortola and do this brutal run three weeks later. 😂
Coming up on April 6.
https://www.nevistostkittscrosschannelswim.com/
Looks like fun.
Has anyone done this before? How well is it organized?
MB
Wow that does look fun! I love the Caribbean and would consider this for the future (already signed up for a 70.3 in the DR end of April). And a 2.5 mile swim is reasonable (for a lot of us). Having recently done the IM WC swim in Kona and absolutely loved it, I think this would be fun. I won’t be competitive, but I’d love to do this for fun and the love of open water swimming. **I’ve never done a swim race. **Just lots of triathlon swims.
Oh wait, I did do the Ho’ala swim in Kona just recently. So I lied. I have done one swim race and loved it. I am slow as shit compared to the real swimmers but I really enjoy open water swimming. In the ocean, lakes, rivers, ponds…as long as it’s safe and marginally clean 
OK back to the topic! I just sent an email with this swim information to my little local open water swim pod. Maybe 2025.
My wife and I did it in 2019. Basically, it was a blast.
I think they advertised it as a 3.1 mile swim, but it was more like 2.5 miles. Although parts of the channel were choppy, the water was pretty clear and I spotted several turtles and rays beneath me during my swim. Water temperature was maybe 79-80 degrees when we did it.
At the time, there were basically 2 divisions—in the “competitive’ division you were not allowed to use any swim aids; only goggles, cap, swimsuit and a safety buoy. In the “recreational†division, you can use fins, snorkels, paddles, etc., and you can be paced by a kayak or SUP person. The competitive division’s race started a few minutes before the recreational division. More of the international visitors did the competitive race, and more of the locals did the recreational race.
Before the race start, it was a pretty festive atmosphere with music playing a local news station interviewing participants. The race got started about 40 minutes late, which is probably to be expected when everyone is on “island timeâ€. The race start for the competitive division was a bit like the old-time triathlon starts: Thigh-deep start, 100 plus swimmers going pretty much full bore out of a relatively small inlet, with things spreading out after about 300 yards or so. After that, its much like and Ironman swim but, at least when we did, with no sight buoys of any kind along the way—you just aimed for the island 2.5 miles away!
The race finish was also pretty festive, too, with music playing and a large inflatable finish arch to aim for near the end. I’ll admit that sighting the finish of the course was kind of difficult until you got close, and some of us (myself included) swam a little off course. Just more sight-seeing, I guess. Post-race, they had refreshments like fruit, bagels and juice.
This channel crossing is a point-to-point event, which starts in Nevis and ends in St. Kitts. So you have to decide beforehand whether you are going to stay on the Nevis side before the race, and then take a boat back to Nevis after the finish, or if you are going to stay on the St. Kitts side and take a boat across on the morning of the race. The St. Kitts hotels near the finish are nicer, and pricier. The Nevis resort we stayed at (adjacent to the race start) was older and a bit more primitive (lots of chickens roaming around!).
I’d do this swim again, as it was fun and pretty well organized. The only thing different I’d do would be to stay on the St. Kitts side (I think the race finish is right by the Marriot there) instead of the Nevis side, as the hotel is much nicer and, post-race, it would have been nice to just get a hot shower in the room rather than grabbing a water taxi to go back to Nevis.
Hope this helps.
My wife and I did it in 2019. Basically, it was a blast.
I think they advertised it as a 3.1 mile swim, but it was more like 2.5 miles. Although parts of the channel were choppy, the water was pretty clear and I spotted several turtles and rays beneath me during my swim. Water temperature was maybe 79-80 degrees when we did it.
At the time, there were basically 2 divisions—in the “competitive’ division you were not allowed to use any swim aids; only goggles, cap, swimsuit and a safety buoy. In the “recreational†division, you can use fins, snorkels, paddles, etc., and you can be paced by a kayak or SUP person. The competitive division’s race started a few minutes before the recreational division. More of the international visitors did the competitive race, and more of the locals did the recreational race.
Before the race start, it was a pretty festive atmosphere with music playing a local news station interviewing participants. The race got started about 40 minutes late, which is probably to be expected when everyone is on “island timeâ€. The race start for the competitive division was a bit like the old-time triathlon starts: Thigh-deep start, 100 plus swimmers going pretty much full bore out of a relatively small inlet, with things spreading out after about 300 yards or so. After that, its much like and Ironman swim but, at least when we did, with no sight buoys of any kind along the way—you just aimed for the island 2.5 miles away!
The race finish was also pretty festive, too, with music playing and a large inflatable finish arch to aim for near the end. I’ll admit that sighting the finish of the course was kind of difficult until you got close, and some of us (myself included) swam a little off course. Just more sight-seeing, I guess. Post-race, they had refreshments like fruit, bagels and juice.
This channel crossing is a point-to-point event, which starts in Nevis and ends in St. Kitts. So you have to decide beforehand whether you are going to stay on the Nevis side before the race, and then take a boat back to Nevis after the finish, or if you are going to stay on the St. Kitts side and take a boat across on the morning of the race. The St. Kitts hotels near the finish are nicer, and pricier. The Nevis resort we stayed at (adjacent to the race start) was older and a bit more primitive (lots of chickens roaming around!).
I’d do this swim again, as it was fun and pretty well organized. The only thing different I’d do would be to stay on the St. Kitts side (I think the race finish is right by the Marriot there) instead of the Nevis side, as the hotel is much nicer and, post-race, it would have been nice to just get a hot shower in the room rather than grabbing a water taxi to go back to Nevis.
Hope this helps.Wow! Thanks for the report. I may check this out for 2025. The “recreational” class sounds pretty interesting to me.
My wife and I did it in 2019. Basically, it was a blast.
I think they advertised it as a 3.1 mile swim, but it was more like 2.5 miles. Although parts of the channel were choppy, the water was pretty clear and I spotted several turtles and rays beneath me during my swim. Water temperature was maybe 79-80 degrees when we did it.
At the time, there were basically 2 divisions—in the “competitive’ division you were not allowed to use any swim aids; only goggles, cap, swimsuit and a safety buoy. In the “recreational†division, you can use fins, snorkels, paddles, etc., and you can be paced by a kayak or SUP person. The competitive division’s race started a few minutes before the recreational division. More of the international visitors did the competitive race, and more of the locals did the recreational race.
Before the race start, it was a pretty festive atmosphere with music playing a local news station interviewing participants. The race got started about 40 minutes late, which is probably to be expected when everyone is on “island timeâ€. The race start for the competitive division was a bit like the old-time triathlon starts: Thigh-deep start, 100 plus swimmers going pretty much full bore out of a relatively small inlet, with things spreading out after about 300 yards or so. After that, its much like and Ironman swim but, at least when we did, with no sight buoys of any kind along the way—you just aimed for the island 2.5 miles away!
The race finish was also pretty festive, too, with music playing and a large inflatable finish arch to aim for near the end. I’ll admit that sighting the finish of the course was kind of difficult until you got close, and some of us (myself included) swam a little off course. Just more sight-seeing, I guess. Post-race, they had refreshments like fruit, bagels and juice.
This channel crossing is a point-to-point event, which starts in Nevis and ends in St. Kitts. So you have to decide beforehand whether you are going to stay on the Nevis side before the race, and then take a boat back to Nevis after the finish, or if you are going to stay on the St. Kitts side and take a boat across on the morning of the race. The St. Kitts hotels near the finish are nicer, and pricier. The Nevis resort we stayed at (adjacent to the race start) was older and a bit more primitive (lots of chickens roaming around!).
I’d do this swim again, as it was fun and pretty well organized. The only thing different I’d do would be to stay on the St. Kitts side (I think the race finish is right by the Marriot there) instead of the Nevis side, as the hotel is much nicer and, post-race, it would have been nice to just get a hot shower in the room rather than grabbing a water taxi to go back to Nevis.
Hope this helps.Wow! Thanks for the report. I may check this out for 2025. The “recreational” class sounds pretty interesting to me.
haha, yes I think I’d be much happier in the recreational swim. I just think it would be a fun ocean swim. And you can’t do this kind of thing alone. I already have a couple local friends interested in joining us for 2025.