20th Annual Around-the-Island Swim Relay
August 1, 2026
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Get ready for our biggest fundraiser of the year! There are lots of ways to participate. Swim, paddle, boat, or be a land-based volunteer!
New to open water swimming? Try our “Arms Across Blakely” event and bring your young folk (ages 10 and up).
We’ll be back at T&C and Safeway with our information table tracking the action and telling our neighbors all about Arms Around Bainbridge. The whole day wraps up with an after-swim party at Treehouse Café!
How we run the Swim Relay
This is not a race, and there aren’t teams, but it’s fun to swim with friends! Swimmers fill each leg of the route as we work our way around the island. There are access points every 1-4 miles or so (see chart below for details) where swimmers will enter and exit the water. Swimmers can swim just one leg or multiple legs (which do not need to be consecutive) depending on how far they want to swim. Swimmers will have paddler escorts (kayak or paddle board) for assistance in sighting and for safety. We also have several larger boats accompanying the relay as additional safety resources. There is a registration fee for swimmers to cover costs of putting on the event. There is no registration fee to paddle or volunteer, but donations are always welcome!
Please note, each leg may start as early as 30 minutes before the posted time if the previous leg has landed. However, no leg will start later than the posted start time, even if the previous leg has still not arrived. This helps us keep on schedule with the tides and currents.
2026 Relay Legs
This information changes each year depending on tides and currents. Note the new start and finish location this year!
Arms Across Blakely
Are you open-water curious? Or maybe you love taking a dip in the sound on a hot day, but the thought of swimming for miles is not (yet) something you want to try? We've got an event for you! This short swim is for anyone age 10 and above, so bring your (older) kids along for the fun. We'll be swimming across Blakely Harbor and back, approximately .5 miles. If you would like to support the swimmers from a kayak or paddleboard, you can join the Arms Across Blakely Flotilla.
The Arms Across Blakely Swim will take place the same day as the Swim Relay, on Saturday, August 1, at 4:00 p.m. at Blakely Harbor.
click image to expand
Questions? Email AABSwim@armsaroundbainbridge.org.
Other ways to participate
Water support: Kayaks, SUPs and boats provide support and safety for swimmers.
On-land volunteers: We can always use some onshore volunteer support.
A note about fundraising
The Annual Swim Relay is our flagship fundraiser. We strongly encourage swim and paddle participants to spread the word and raise money for AAB. When you register, we’ll send instructions on how to set up a cool fundraising page of your own and get the word out to your friends, family, co-workers and community. Thanks in advance!
Check out the individual fundraising pages (and donate!):
Some important notes about swimming in Puget Sound
Open water swimming in the Puget Sound has many inherent risks including, but not limited to hypothermia; cramps; heart attack; getting hit by a boat, water skier or a bunch of daft teenagers on tubes; drowning; injuries from wildlife such as jellyfish, seals, orcas and otters; swallowing disgusting water; E. coli, leaking septic systems and toxic spills; running into a buoy, log or dead animal; nuclear submarines; and everything and anything else that can happen in a wilderness environment. Some situations cannot be planned for and you should be aware that this is not a gentle environment for either swimmers or kayakers.
Only you can decide if this event is appropriate for you considering the inherent risks as well as your own health, swimming skills and open water swim experience. If you elect to swim, you should have had experience with Puget Sound swimming before participating in this event, in order to acclimate to the water temperature, the salt water, the feel of the current and the presence of jellyfish. Swimmers are not required to swim fast or for any longer than you choose, but you should only swim a distance you know you can comfortably complete in the cold, Puget Sound water. At a minimum, swimmers should have enough conditioning and endurance to swim steadily in the Sound for at least 30 minutes (more, of course, for longer swims!), and should be able to average a pace of at least 40 minutes per mile. Wetsuits are required (unless you’ve obtained permission from the relay manager), and if you want to wear fins, that is totally okay!