Between Perth's Cottesloe Beach and Rottnest Island lies 19.7 kilometres of open Indian Ocean, exposed, windy and fast-moving. Each February thousands of swimmers try to cross it, solo or in relays, starting at dawn among currents and sharks. Here is the story of the swim, and eight more famous Australian ocean swims.
What is the Rottnest Channel Swim?
The race runs from Cottesloe Beach (Mudurup) to Thomson Bay on Rottnest Island (Wadjemup), across open sea west of Fremantle. Swimmers enter as soloists, duos or teams of four, each escorted by a boat and a paddler. By 1998 it had 1,150 competitors and was the world's largest open-water swim, and in 2025 more than 2,700 athletes from 12 countries took part.
- Rottnest Channel SwimCottesloe – Rottnest · 19.7 km (12.2 mi) First run as an official race in 1991, with 44 entries.
- Port to PubLeighton Beach – Rottnest · 19.7 or 25 km First held in 2016; finishes at Hotel Rottnest.
- Busselton Jetty SwimBusselton, WA · 3.6 km (2.2 mi) First held in 1996, with 82 swimmers.
- Magnetic Island to TownsvilleMagnetic Island – Townsville · 8 km (5 mi) First organised in 1954. Shark cages were dropped in 2008.
- Lorne Pier to PubLorne, Victoria · 1.2 km (0.75 mi) First swum in 1981; in the Guinness book from 1998.
- Cole ClassicShelly Beach – Manly · 1 or 2 km Started by the Cole family in 1982.
- Bondi to BronteBondi – Bronte, Sydney · 2.1–2.4 km One of Sydney's best-known ocean races.
- Coogee Island ChallengeAround Wedding Cake Island · 2.4 km Held every April, in chop, swell and surge.
- Rottnest double crossingCottesloe – Rottnest – Cottesloe · 39.4 km Barbara Pellick's 1994 swim, 12:06:12, is the women's record.
The distances are the official course lengths. Real swims are longer: swimmers rarely hold a straight line, and currents and wind push them off course, often adding kilometres and hours.
How hard is the Rottnest Channel Swim?
For a soloist, very. The Rottnest Channel Swim is a true marathon swim, long enough that entrants must first prove themselves over 10 kilometres. The fastest swimmers finish in about four hours, but many soloists are in the water far longer, through the full heat of a West Australian summer morning, with the wind usually rising as they near the island.
The records keep falling. In 2023, Bailey Armstrong swam 3:48:11 to break Solomon Wright's 3:59:28 by more than 11 minutes, and Chloe Truscott set a women's mark of 4:14:31. A team of four, including Olympians Mack Horton and Cody Simpson, crossed in 3:33:49, the fastest time of all.
Who first swam to Rottnest?
On 24 January 1956, Gerd von Dincklage-Schulenburg made the first recorded crossing from Cottesloe to Rottnest, in 9 hours and 45 minutes. In 1969, Lesley Meaney became the first woman to complete it. For decades the crossing stayed a small affair: in 1983, 19 swimmers made 26 crossings. Only in 1991 did it become an organised race, with 16 soloists and seven teams of four, and the event grew quickly from there.
Why is the Rottnest Channel so tough?
Several things combine. The channel is open ocean, so there is little shelter and swell rolls through unbroken. Wind builds chop that makes it hard to breathe and hard to sight. Currents can run across the course for hours: in 2021, northerly currents of up to 0.8 metres per second pushed swimmers past the island.
Then there is the weather and the wildlife. The 2007 race was cancelled for cyclonic activity, the 2024 race was stopped about four hours in, and the 2026 race was called off the day before. Sharks are watched for too: after the first shark evacuation in 2018, organisers added a helicopter to check sightings. Every swimmer needs a boat, a skipper, a paddler and months of training.
Can you enter the Rottnest Channel Swim?
Yes, but places go fast. For 2027, a soloist must have finished a solo crossing in 2025 or 2026, or swim 10 km in 4 hours 15 minutes or less between 2 May 2026 and 25 January 2027. Duo and team entries open online on 27 and 28 October 2026, first come, first served. Teams and duos from the cancelled 2026 race have guaranteed entry.
How can visitors experience the swim?
You do not need to swim it to feel its pull. On race morning, crowds gather on Cottesloe Beach at dawn to watch the start, and hundreds of support boats head out behind the swimmers. Others take the ferry across and wait at the Thomson Bay finish. Smaller swims, from the Busselton Jetty Swim to the Lorne Pier to Pub, are open to most fit swimmers.
You can also see the channel from the deck of any Rottnest ferry, from the lighthouse on Wadjemup Hill on a clear day, or from the coastal path at Cottesloe, where the island floats on the horizon. For your own swims, stay close to shore at calm, patrolled beaches or the sheltered bays of Rottnest, and read our guide to ocean safety in Australia first.
Facts checked October 2026. Race history and records are as published by the Rottnest Channel Swim Association and Swimming WA; distances are official course lengths.
- Event histories: Rottnest Channel Swim Association, Busselton Jetty Swim, Lorne Historical Society, oceanswims.com
- Rottnest Channel Swim Association: A brief history
- Rottnest Channel Swim Association: Registration and qualifying
- Swimming WA: Records crushed at the 2023 Rottnest Channel Swim
