Lowcountry Splash sells out five weeks before the open water swim takes place - Charleston Post Courier
They are asking the founder and director of the Lowcountry Splash, an open water swim of distances of 2. 4 and five miles, if he could just “squeeze me in” into the swim. Last week, the Splash reached its registration cap of 600 swimmers — 450 in the 2. 4-mile race and 150 in the five-miler — with five weeks to go before the 14th annual swim on May 30. Last year, it sold out in a then-record five days before the... While Rutledge for years has envisioned a swim of 1,000 people, he’s keeping a lid on the numbers for safety reasons. Last year was the first year the swim crested the 500 finisher mark, with 525 of the 575 registered finishing one of the swims. Rutledge credits the dramatic change in early registration to a combination of more aggressive marketing of the event, such as after New Year’s, and the growing popularity of open water swimming. The Splash didn’t start seeing big increases until it added the five-mile swim. Rutledge said swimmers are more likely to travel for longer swimming events, just as runners are more likely to travel for a marathon or half marathon than a 5K or 10K. People from nearly 20 states are expected at the swim. Source: www.postandcourier.com
