Kelowna had local swimmers lining up to take a bus across the lake for the Across the Lake swim early Saturday morning. Starting their race just off Old Ferry Wharf Road in West Kelowna, the annual swim is the largest and longest continuously running open-water swim event in Canada. With competitive and non-competitive portions of the swim, people had the option to register for a 1.5km and a 2.1km swim.

It wasn’t hard to see that the swimmers were dragged a bit farther north by the wind and current. Plenty of people were out cheering and supporting the swimmers, looking for people they knew or friends and family competing in the annual swim. The finish line was on Hot Sands Beach in Kelowna’s City Park.

The swim has been an ongoing tradition for many over the years, with a large history dating back as early as 1910, which was recently discovered in an article by the Kelowna Courier. With a growing number of swimmers growing steadily each year, the swim has expanded to numerous other swims throughout the summer.

Additional swims and information can be found here.