371 Competitors Expected To Splash Down Sunday at Joe K’s Beach to Beach
A popular St. John athletic event is set to splash down Sunday morning along the island’s north shore. Organizers say registration for Joe Kessler’s Beach to Beach Power Swim was closed off weeks in advance, with sign-ups from local athletes and visitors who scheduled their vacation around Memorial Day weekend.
For the past 21 years, Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park has hosted hundreds of swimmers and coordinated dozens of volunteers to stage the race. Swimmers can opt for short, medium, or long course competitions. In 2024, the race was dedicated to Beach To Beach cofounder Joe Kessler after he died in an auto accident on the U.S. mainland.
Now in its 22nd year, the power swim is considered one of the most popular open-water swims in the world, according to organizers. Three hundred seventy-one participants, aged seven to 82, are expected to gather at the starting line at Maho Bay beach.
”We had more registered participants in a shorter amount of time than every before,” said the current Friends director Tonia Lovejoy. “We open registration every year in February, and we almost had the full race filled by the end of the month.”
Registration roles from competitions past showed swimmers from up to 22 U.S. states and six nations taking part. This year, Lovejoy said swimmers are coming from 29 states, the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and one registrant from Manchester, England.
Military veterans from Team River Runner and a group of young competitors representing the V.I. at home and abroad are also expected along the starting line.
“We’ve got the St. Thomas Swim Club joining us. Reagan Uzenski, who recently represented the USVI at the Pan American Games and won, and a couple of other superstars,” the director said.
The race has a scheduled start of 8 a.m. on Sunday; swimmers grouped according to their water course will dive in groups to start their respective competitions:
The Maho-to-Cinnamon-Bay Short Course is for solo swimmers only at a distance of one mile.
In the Maho-to-Trunk-Bay Intermediate Course, solo competitors race a distance of 2.25 miles.
The Maho-to-Hawksnest Long Course covers 3.5 miles. There is also a three-person relay race along the long course. Relay team transition points will be at Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay beaches.
An awards ceremony will be held Sunday afternoon at Trunk Bay beach, complete with a picnic repast.
And this year, the Friends plan to honor former V.I. National Park Biologist Jeff Miller, who helped Kessler stage the first power swim event. Miller, along with Karen Cannell, is also being honored for creating and donating an underwater tourist recreational guide called Plan Your Snorkel.
Miller will also present a lecture about open-water swimming at the National Park Research Center at Lind Point Thursday evening at 6 p.m.
“A shuttle is available from the National Park Visitor Center in Cruz Bay departing at 5:30 p.m. and returning after the event,” organizers said.
Proceeds from Sunday’s event will benefit the Friends of V.I. National Park programs such as Learn to Swim, sea turtle nest protection, School Kids in the Park, and more.
