Annual Swim Around Key West - Every year in June swimmers come to Key West to swim around the island and compete for prizes. It's a tough swim that requires hard training and an accompanying spotter boat or kayak. Swimmers train hard and work hard to swim the twelve and a half mile circle around Key West. They battle sometimes-rough waters, sometims-polluted waters off Higgs Beach, and unaware boaters who zip by too fast or too close. They swim for hours under the strong Florida sun. They are heroes for a day!
The conditions are different every year, but since the race is in June, the waters a pretty warm. The race organizers try and plan the race around the tides to benefit the swimmers.
Annual Swim Around Key West was started in the late 1970s and the founder is still active in the Key West event. The winners get medals and there's a post race party for everyone involved. There are usually between 50 and 75 swimmers each year. |
