Grimaldo’s Mile
This swim honors the lifeguard Grimaldo Medrano who made it possible for NYC open water swimmers to swim past the jetties without being whistled in by the lifeguards. Grimaldo’s loyal confidence and acceptance of us open water swimmers made it possible for us all to swim today in what we think is the perfect training grounds. Unfortunately cancer took him from us when he was only 34. This swim honors and recognizes his life and commitment to our community. We thank him for all he did for us.
This is the perfect “newbie” race, for the beginner racer or triathlete whether they’ve experienced open water before or not. Conditions are usually gentle due to the geographically protected waters of Brighton Beach and Coney Island. You swim parallel to shore so if you have any doubts you can easily swim to shore, find a volunteer or race official, and hand in you race chip and say, “today just wasn’t my day, maybe next time.” That being said, it is also the perfect race to challenge your favorite competitors and there is talk about having a special wave for teams that want to show how well they have trained this year – which team will have the best showing: Brooklyn Tri, TNYA, Redtide, Bearcats, AGUA, or Cooper Union?
Practice your beach starts and your sighting before the race, but after the race invite your friends to join you in taking advantage of Amusements, Games, and Dining that Coney Island and Brighton Beach can offer you.
Grimaldo’s Mile 2022 is happening July 9th!
Breezy Point
How many times have you sat on Brighton Beach and looked out at those beautiful beaches across the water that are called Breezy Point? “Could I swim that distance?” “Is there dangerous boat traffic?” “I can’t live another day if I can’t do that swim.”
You’ll swim out to one of our boats and then be transported to Breezy Point to start the swim. I’ve always liked to get completely out onto the beach and touch that lighthouse building on the beach at Breezy before starting. You will have to swim together as a group (for safety reasons – we’re crossing a busy boating channel) guided by our support boats and kayakers until you reach Manhattan Beach. Once you’ve made the buoy at Manhattan Beach you’ll turn left swimming along the coast – here you are welcome to start your race to the finish, leave all your swimming buddies in your bubbles.
The swim starts from Breezy Point and ends where the boats picked you up – at Education Hall. Practice your beach starts and you sighting before the race, but after the race invite your friends to join you in taking advantage of amusements, games, and dining that Coney Island and Brighton Beach can offer you.