Okinawa, a tropical archipelago of beautiful islands located between the southern island of Kyushu in Japan and Taiwan, is the land of many athletic contests.
And the locals start off young. They participate in festivals that include everything from ocean swims and lifeguard contests to marathon runs and triathlons.
One such island, Tonakijima Island (渡名喜島) with a population of 502 people, 2 hours away from the main island of Okinawa, holds in annual summer swimming festival on Nishihama Beach. The community sets up a 25 meter course complete with lane lines and start/finish pontoons where the elementary school children can get their first taste of open water swimming in relatively shallow water. Starting with 400m and 800m swims, the young children gradually graduate to swimming without lane lines in the open ocean.
But initially, the elders make ocean swimming fun, safe, and comfortable for the younger generations.
And surprises from the ocean come up all the time (see photo above).
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.