Marathon Swimming

Marathon swimming is also referred to as open-water swimming, as it is held in an open body of water, as opposed to a pool. The discipline made its Olympic début at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with a single 10 km open water race for men and women, and those events remain the only ones in the Olympic Programme for this discipline as of 2024.

Marathon swimming has been contested at the World Aquatics Championships since 1991, where men and women race over 5 km, 10 km, and 25 km. Open-water swimming has been around much longer than that, however, as many races in the 19th and early 20th century were held in open water, including the swimming events at the 1896, 1900, and 1904 Olympic Games.

The Netherlands tops the discipline’s medal table as of 2024, with five medals and four golds, led by swimmer Sharon van Rouwendaal, with two golds and a silver medal. German Thomas Lurz and Hungarian Kristóf Rasovszky are the only male swimmers with two Olympic marathon swimming medals.

Marathon swimming is not considered a separate sport but rather a discipline of swimming, or technically aquatics, and as such is governed by World Aquatics. The organization was founded as the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) on 19 July 1908 in London, and was known as such until December 2022, when it changed to its current name. World Aquatics has 209 national federations as members as of 2024.