Flowers Sea Swim – Grand Cayman

Now over two decades old, the Flowers One Mile Sea Swim bills itself as the richest open water swim in the world, based on the number of prizes given away both to the top finishers but also in a random prize draw to those entrants who complete the swim competing only against themselves (with around one in five entrants winning a random prize from the $100,000 prize fund).

With numbers capped at 1,000 this is an impressive massed swim start in the beautiful waters of Grand Cayman, along a stretch of Seven Mile Beach between the Ritz and Royal Palms (with the direction usually determined by the current).  I have done this twice now, and should really put a little more training in, but unfortunately it takes place on the long weekend in June when my wife usually likes to take the chance to get off Island for a bit of city life.  The atmosphere of the day carries you along, avoiding the elbows and kicks at the start line you can quickly find a patch of water where you can enjoy the reef fish and the occasional ray whilst keeping a steady beat to the finish line.

For those who don’t fancy a swim there is a walk option, through the fine sand of the Seven Mile Beach, although you don’t get the cooling effect of the water and the walk is at one of the peak times of the day.

This year, the Flowers Water company covered all of the costs of the swim, so the entry money all went to the Cayman Islands Cancer Society, around $60,000 for a very good cause.

The prizes at the end do take several times longer than the swim itself, but it’s great to sit back, relax and enjoy a well earned beer.

Although I was participating and so did not manage to take any pictures, the video below, produced by AirVu in Cayman utilising their awesome drone technology, gives you a good taste for the action.