Marathon swimming fundamentals

AMSA’s primary ratification mandate covers solo marathon swims of 10 km or longer in African waters.

Shorter, geographically significant crossings may be considered for a separate designation, provisionally called the “AMSA Recognised Crossing”. It is never a ratified marathon swim and is never presented as one on the website, in the records or on certificates.

AMSA is not a competitive swimming federation. It does not regulate organised open-water races; its work concerns individual swims.

How a swim’s distance is measured (for example the shortest route between start and finish, or the distance actually swum), and the eligibility and route definitions for the AMSA Recognised Crossing, are not yet decided.

Traditional Skins: swims that comply with AMSA’s traditional marathon-swimming rules, based on English Channel standards.

Assisted: swims using equipment outside traditional skins standards, including wetsuits, technical racing suits and other permitted swimming aids.

Records in the two categories are kept separately and are never ranked together.

A swim’s category is declared when the swim is registered, and the observer confirms it before the start.

Detailed swimwear and equipment specifications for each category (materials, coverage, caps, goggles, grease and similar) are not published until the rules are adopted.

“Assisted” refers to swimwear and equipment. It does not mean that every form of assistance is permitted. Physical assistance, propulsion and other prohibited conduct are addressed in the swimming rules, for both categories.

In English Channel-based practice the swimmer may not be touched or supported by another person, may not hold or touch the escort vessel, and may not use aids to buoyancy, speed or endurance. Feeds are handed or thrown from the vessel without physical support.

AMSA’s own list of what is permitted and prohibited in each category, and the consequence of a breach, require policy approval. Until then the observer’s task is to record precisely what happened.

Start and finish are timestamped, and photographed or filmed, at each end of the swim.

A swim usually starts with the swimmer on the shore or at an agreed fixed point and finishes when the swimmer clears the water, or touches the agreed finish point, without help.

AMSA’s exact start and finish requirements for each kind of shore (beach, rocks, pier, island, lake shore) are not yet set, and may be defined route by route.

At least one independent, AMSA-approved observer is proposed for every swim.

Before the swim the observer confirms the category and route, reviews the rules with the swimmer and crew, declares any conflict of interest and records starting conditions.

During the swim the observer keeps the swimmer under observation and logs times, positions, feeds, conditions and incidents.

After the swim the observer completes the log and signed declaration and submits the evidence to AMSA.

The observer documents; independent reviewers decide. The proposed model needs two non-conflicted reviewers to agree.

An observer represents the record, not the swimmer. The reviewers were not on the water; they rely on someone who was, and who had no stake in the outcome.

Observers must be independent of the swimmer, their crew and their sponsors, must declare any potential conflict in advance, and must record what happened, including anything that counts against the swim.

Marathon swimming is a small community and close connections are common. A conflict is not a failing; an undeclared one is. The same principle applies to AMSA’s founders and committee members, who take no part in reviewing their own swims.