ATLANTIC CITY - The 2nd Annual Jim Whelan Open Water Festival, featuring the 55th annual Around The Island® Swim, will be held on Sunday, Aug. 1 in the ocean and bay surrounding Absecon Island.
The event being hosted by Green Whales, Inc., honors the late NJ Sen. Jim Whelan, who was an Atlantic City lifeguard, teacher and swimming coach at Atlantic City high school.
The theme for this year's event honors the historical significance of the Around The Island® Swim to the Absecon Island community and generations of lifeguard families.
Green Whales provides free swim lessons and water safety instruction for children in Atlantic City through its Whelan Whales program, fulfilling Whelan's belief that all children living on the island should learn to swim and be safe in the water.
Marilyn Bell DiLascio
Marilyn Bell DiLascio of Ontario, the first woman to swim across Lake Ontario and who participated in the 1954 Around the Island swim, will be the official starter.
This race holds a special place in my heart and it's a wonderful thing to see it still going strong 67 years after I swam it, she said.
Our motto for the race is honoring nostalgia in service to our community.' What Marilyn's accomplished during both her swimming career and personal life certainly embodies this and we're so honored to have her join us, Green Whales trustee Melissa Peticolas said.
The first Around the Island Swim was held in 1953 when two Atlantic City lifeguards, Ed "Dutch" Stetser and Edward Solitare, made a $100 bet to see who could circumnavigate Absecon Island first. Solitare won, completing the grueling course in 13:30, with Stetser an hour behind him.
The event grew in subsequent years and became a world championship ocean swimming marathon.
Stéphane Gomez of France holds the marathon record set in 2004 with a time of 6:37.09. The overall winner of the 54th Around The Island® Swim held in 2019 is William Bill Leonard of Canada 8:23:27.
Residents who live along the bayfront in Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate and Longport are encouraged to cheer on the participants by decorating their homes and putting up signs of encouragement.
The 22.75-mile marathon swim begins at 8 a.m. and ends at the Atlantic City High School Boathouse, 3405 Fairmount Ave., near the Albany Avenue bridge.
To volunteer as a rower, email [email protected].
