Pioneer African waters
AMSA encourages new crossings across Africa’s coasts, lakes and rivers, and keeps a careful, honest record of the routes already swum.
Africa’s next great crossing is waiting for its first swimmer.
AMSA exists to encourage new swims as much as to record past ones. Africa’s coasts, lakes and rivers hold countless crossings that have never been documented. If you are planning one, bring it to us, so that your swim can become the first on the record.
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Step 1
Propose your route
Tell us where you want to swim: the start, the finish, the water and why it matters. Ambitious, remote and never-before-attempted routes are especially welcome.
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Step 2
Define it together
AMSA would work with you to set the start and finish points, the standard distance and the rules it is swum under, published as a numbered route version that every future swimmer can follow.
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Step 3
Swim it, observed
Once the rules are adopted and applications open, you swim with an independent observer on your escort vessel, in the Traditional Skins or Assisted category, and a ratified first completion goes on the permanent record.
Route proposals are welcome now through our contact page. AMSA ratifies solo marathon swims of 10 km or longer. Shorter, geographically significant crossings are welcome as suggestions for a separate designation, provisionally called the AMSA Recognised Crossing, which is not yet open. Applications open once AMSA’s rules are adopted, and a defined route never replaces maritime permissions or your own safety planning.
A complete record, whoever ratifies the swim
Some African swims are already ratified by another body, and that ratification stands. Many more have no ratifying body at all, and that is where AMSA is most needed. Distances, start and finish points and history are researched before anything is published as definitive.
- Entries listed
- 12
- Ratified elsewhere
- 2 with CLDSA, 2 sometimes with WOWSA
- No ratifying body
- 3, all welcome at AMSA
- AMSA-defined routes
- None yet
- Ratified completions
- None yet
- Ratified by another body
- No ratifying body, welcome at AMSA
- Research candidate
- Photograph location
Select a marker to see where a route stands. Markers show the general area only, not start or finish points. Search and filters by country, distance, route type and verification status arrive in the next phase, with the route database.
Routes by who ratifies them today
Every route listed here is a research entry, not an AMSA-recognised route. AMSA is not affiliated with CLDSA, WOWSA or any other body. An existing ratification is always credited to the body that granted it, and is never automatically treated as AMSA-ratified.
Planning to swim one of these routes? Where a route already has a ratifying body, such as CLDSA or WOWSA, apply to that body; any optional AMSA status would depend on AMSA’s adopted rules. Routes with no ratifying body are where AMSA can help. AMSA applications are not yet open, so for now tell us about the swim you are planning and we will be in touch.
Tell us about your swimRatified by the Cape Long Distance Swimming Association
Ratified by CLDSAThese swims are already ratified by the Cape Long Distance Swimming Association (CLDSA), and that ratification stands. AMSA lists them so that Africa’s record is complete and credits CLDSA as the ratifying body. Whether an additional AMSA status could apply will depend on AMSA’s adopted rules, including the 10 km marathon threshold and the separate AMSA Recognised Crossing designation for shorter crossings.
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Robben Island crossings
- Country
- South Africa
- Water
- Table Bay, Atlantic Ocean
- Ratifier
- Cape Long Distance Swimming Association (CLDSA)
- Distance
- To be confirmed
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False Bay
- Country
- South Africa
- Water
- False Bay
- Ratifier
- Cape Long Distance Swimming Association (CLDSA)
- Distance
- To be confirmed
Sometimes ratified by WOWSA
WOWSA on some swimsSome swims on these routes have been ratified by the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA). Where they have, that ratification stands and is credited to WOWSA. Swims without any ratification are welcome to come to AMSA once applications open.
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Lake Malawi
- Country
- Malawi
- Water
- Lake Malawi
- Ratifier
- World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA), on some swims
- Distance
- To be confirmed
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St Helena Bay
- Country
- South Africa
- Water
- St Helena Bay, Atlantic Ocean
- Ratifier
- World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA), on some swims
- Distance
- To be confirmed
No ratifying body today
Welcome at AMSAThis is where AMSA begins. These swims currently have no body that ratifies them, and every one of them is welcome. Swimmers on these routes will be able to apply for AMSA ratification once applications open, under the adopted rules.
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Umhlanga to Durban
- Country
- South Africa
- Water
- Indian Ocean
- Ratifier
- None known
- Distance
- To be confirmed
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Nelson Mandela Bay
- Country
- South Africa
- Water
- Algoa Bay, Indian Ocean
- Ratifier
- None known
- Distance
- To be confirmed
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Walker Bay
- Country
- South Africa
- Water
- Walker Bay, Atlantic Ocean
- Ratifier
- None known
- Distance
- To be confirmed
Further research candidates
Research candidateWhether these routes already have a ratifying body is still being researched. Until that is known, they are listed as research candidates only.
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Walvis Bay to Swakopmund
- Country
- Namibia
- Water
- Atlantic Ocean
- Ratifier
- Being researched
- Distance
- To be confirmed
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Maputo Bay
- Country
- Mozambique
- Water
- Maputo Bay, Indian Ocean
- Ratifier
- Being researched
- Distance
- To be confirmed
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Bioko Island to Cameroon
- Country
- Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon
- Water
- Gulf of Guinea
- Ratifier
- Being researched
- Distance
- To be confirmed
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Dakar coastal routes
- Country
- Senegal
- Water
- Atlantic Ocean
- Ratifier
- Being researched
- Distance
- To be confirmed
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Morocco to Ceuta
- Country
- Morocco and Spain (Ceuta)
- Water
- Strait of Gibraltar
- Ratifier
- Being researched
- Distance
- To be confirmed
More routes will be added as research continues, and new routes proposed by pioneers will join the list as they are defined. Full route profiles are published as each route’s research is completed.
Five ways a route can stand
A route can hold more than one of these at once. Each has its own badge, so status never depends on colour alone. Routes whose existing ratifying body, if any, is still being checked are marked Research candidate; no recognition level has been assigned to them yet.
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Proposed
Proposed route
Suggested by a swimmer, club or researcher. Start, finish and distance are not yet defined.
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Historically documented
Historically documented route
Past swims on the route are supported by independent sources held in AMSA’s archive.
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AMSA-defined
AMSA-defined route
AMSA has published official start and finish definitions and a standard distance, as a numbered route version.
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Ratified by [organisation]
Ratified by another organisation
Another body already ratifies swims on the route. AMSA credits that body and links to its records. Any optional AMSA status would depend on AMSA’s adopted rules.
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AMSA-ratified completions
Route with AMSA-ratified completions
At least one swim on a defined route version has been ratified by AMSA’s independent reviewers.
Inclusion in the register is not recognition. A route listed here has not been recognised, defined or endorsed by AMSA. Recognising a route is also separate from ratifying a swimmer’s completion of it.
AMSA Recognised Crossing
Provisional programme name · Not openAMSA’s ratification mandate covers solo marathon swims of 10 km or longer. Shorter, geographically significant crossings may be considered for a separate designation, provisionally called the AMSA Recognised Crossing. A Recognised Crossing is not a ratified marathon swim, and will never be presented as one on this website, in the records or on a certificate.
Eligibility and route definitions have not been decided, and the Constitution will need to provide for the designation before it can operate. AMSA is not taking applications for Recognised Crossings. Suggestions of crossings worth considering are welcome.
Suggest a crossing →What each route profile will hold
Profiles in preparationProfiles are published as research is completed. Route information is versioned: if a route’s official start or finish changes, swims stay linked to the route version they were swum on.
- Start and finish points, with GPS coordinates
- Standard route distance and route geometry
- Geographic description and environmental characteristics
- Seasonal considerations, known hazards and local maritime requirements
- Historical background, with its supporting sources
- Associated organisations
- Historical completions, ratified completions and recognised records
- Verification status, date established and last reviewed date
Which routes count as African
Draft proposal, awaiting founding-committee decisionSome African swims cross international borders, and some finish in territory governed from outside Africa. A consistent rule keeps the register fair and comparable.
- A route is eligible if it starts or finishes on the African mainland or an African island, or lies in waters off the African coast.
- Routes that cross a border, such as Bioko Island to Cameroon, list every country involved.
- Routes touching non-African jurisdiction, such as Morocco to Ceuta (Spain), name that jurisdiction. Where another organisation already ratifies a route, AMSA records and links to it rather than duplicating it.
- Swimmers remain responsible for local maritime permissions in every jurisdiction a route passes through.
Know an existing route we should research?
Tell us about a crossing, coastline, lake or river swim, and any sources that document it: club records, newspaper reports, logbooks or observer notes. A route suggestion form opens with the route database; until then, please get in touch through our contact page.