Open Water Swimming

Open water swimming makes its re-debut with the Beijing. In 1896, all of the swimming competitions were held in open water, but swimming moved into the pool with the London Games of 1908.

In Beijing, the open water event will take place in a specially-constructed 680,000-meter lake. Competitors will make four trips around a 2.5K course in this swimming marathon.

One of the athletes to watch in this event is Mark Warkentin (pictured above), the gold medalist at the 2007 Open Water World Championship.

^{(photo © Newscom)}