One of Coronado’s oldest traditions, the Open Water Swim, will return to celebrate the country’s independence with a race set for July 6 in Coronado’s Glorietta Bay. Dating back to 1968, this Coronado ritual was originally coined as a “rough water swim” and was started by the Coronado Navy Swim Association in order to bring swimmers together to celebrate the 4th of July.
Race Director Peter McVey said that this race has become a staple of the community, with returners dating all the way back to the race’s inception.
“We have some legacy swimmers” McVey said. “Prior to [Covid] we had an 83-year-old man who’d swam every single swim since the first event in 1968.”
Competitors in this event are not simply limited to Coronado locals and San Diego natives. McVey said that swimmers travel from all over the globe to compete and participate, and last year, competitors even came from Australia and Ireland.
Although there is a fee to participate — $39 for 250-meter swim, $49 for the half-mile swim, $59 for one-mile and $69 for 3 kilometer swim— the proceeds go to a good place.
“The proceeds of the event serve as a primary fundraiser to Coronado swim-team elite [formally Coronado Navy Swim Association] which is the oldest youth swimming organization in San Diego established in 1963,” McVey said.
Much like its old name suggests, coordinating the Rough Water Swim has not always been smooth sailing. Sewage and waste water from Tijuana has posed a significant challenge to this race, even forcing it to move locations. The event was canceled in 2022 due to beach closures and water quality issues.
“Originally the event was a rough water event that took place at central beach but since the volatile water quality of the ocean we’ve moved the event to Glorietta Bay. We’ve made the event more in line with USA swimming’s open water events and placed the swim in Glorietta bay, which isn’t impacted by the Tijuana sewage issues,” McVey said.
“Being in the bay has also allowed other water enthusiasts to participate who might be apprehensive to being in the open ocean with other environmental factors like tides, current and surf.”
