Three time Olympian Steph Horner of Canada with Festival organizer, Kristina Evelyn ​When the curtain came down on the eighth Barbados Open Water Festival last weekend it was the Canadians who had claimed the lion share of medals in the four races. Stephanie Horner, a Pan Am Medalist and three-time Olympian was victorious in both the 1.5K race and the 10K race. Horner, the first Canadian female to win an Open Water World Cup event, hopes to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  If successful Horner will become the first Canadian to swim at four Olympic Games. ​ The 8th Ba ..read more

Photo courtesy of Colin O'Brady Cameron Bellamy, endurance athlete extraordinaire, recently known for his unprecedented open water swimming accomplishments is currently preparing for another “world first”. He will be part of a six-member team that will row 600 to 800 miles over twenty-one days across the notorious Drake Passage: a body of water thought to have the roughest and coldest waters on earth. The expedition has been dubbed “The Impossible Row”. In the last few years Cameron Bellamy’s name has become synonymous with ultra-marathon swimming. Just two months ago the South African ..read more

Amazing News! Steph Horner will be among a large Canadian contingent expected for the 8th Barbados Open Water Festival to be hosted in Carlisle Bay in early November.  Organizers are delighted that the three time Olympian who is a prospect for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and is currently in training at the High Performance Centre in Victoria, Canada will make her first appearance at the Festival this year. She will swim in the 1.5K and the 10K races.    Steph has represented Canada on multiple occasions including: 2008, 2012, & 2016 Olympic Games, two World Championships ..read more

It’s exceedingly difficult to capture the essence of an incredible ultra-endurance feat such as the unprecedented Cameron Bellamy Swim from Barbados to St Lucia.  It’s an accomplishment beyond most people’s comprehension – how could it be possible to swim through 3 days and 2 nights? Cameron “Cam” Bellamy did it and was watched, every stroke of the way, by an awestruck support crew.     Cam departed from St Peters Bay in Barbados at 8:18 am on Friday September 13 and touched a rocky outcrop in the scenic Moule a Chique area near Vieux Fort at 5:13 pm on Sunday Septemb ..read more

Cameron Bellamy. Swim Around Barbados Start. Nov 2018. South African ultra-endurance athlete, Cameron Bellamy owns an exceptional sporting resume.  He has completed the Oceans Seven swims, rowed across the Indian Ocean and swam around the island of Barbados.  Now, after months of arduous training where he logged innumerable hours swimming every week, he is in the final days of preparation for an extreme endurance test: a 100-mile Swim across the open ocean from Barbados to St Lucia.  Bellamy's inspiration for these epic adventures is derived from his desire ..read more

It’s been on the bucket list for a while and you have decided this is your year, to take the plunge, literally, into the crystal waters of Carlisle Bay for the Barbados Open Water Festival! What awaits you on this tiny coral island, a mere dot on most world maps? For starters, spectacular beaches and warm waters with ideal open water swim conditions on the west, southwest and some south coast locations.  Après Swim the possibilities are endless.   The focal point of the Festival is the magnificent Carlisle Bay, located on the south west coast a stones throw from the capita ..read more

​Jaimie Monahan and Cameron Bellamy, both superstars of the open water swimming world will attend the 8th annual Barbados Open Water Festival to be hosted in Carlisle Bay in November.  With just four months to go, the Festival planning has moved into high gear and organizers are thankful for the timely and critical support via a strengthened partnership with long time partner Chefette Restaurants. Photo courtesy of Jaimie Monahan. Jaimie Monahan, a renowned ultra-marathon and ice swimmer, will make her first appearance at the Festival in 2019. The New Yorker is globally known as a ..read more

​Every June the Variety Club of Barbados hosts their annual “Row for Charity” in the tranquil Carlisle Bay on the south east coast of the island. It’s a tremendous effort by the local charity with over 30 kayak teams made up of 12 members each competing in team relays.  In 2018 the Variety Club incorporated an open water swimming event into the schedule and this past weekend the Swim event attracted over 100 swimmers who participated in a relay race on four member teams. The weather wasn’t fully cooperative with intermittent rain showers during the day but this did nothing to dampen ..read more

​Its with great pleasure that the Barbados Open Water Festival announces that Jaimie Monahan, renowned ultra-marathon and ice swimmer will attend the 8th Festival in November 2019.  The New Yorker is globally known as a Queen of Cold Water swimming but can't wait to get a swim in the warmer waters of Barbados: "I keep looking at photos of the water there and am getting way too excited - its still 5 months away!" Jaimie’s endless list of outstanding achievements includes: first to accomplish the Ice Sevens, numerous marathon swims including a 92K double Manhattan island swim, six maratho ..read more

​Cameron Bellamy had a phenomenal year in 2018. First, he completed his six-year journey to swimming seven of the toughest channels in the world, earning himself the title of Oceans Seven swimmer.  Then, he created history by completing a highly complex circumnavigation of Barbados, swimming a gruelling 96K around the jagged coastline. In November 2019 the endurance athlete extraordinaire will return to Barbados for the 8th annual Festival following his planned Cuba-Florida swim attempt.     This will be his most daunting challenge to date, an attempt to swim 103 miles fro ..read more