Rottnest Channel Swim

 
The Rottnest Channel Swim is an annual open water swimming event from Cottesloe Beach through Gage Roads to Rottnest Island, off the coast of Western Australia, near Perth. 
Format.
The distance is and it is one of the largest open water swimming events in the world, with 2,400 swimmers participating in the 2015 event.
It is held in February each year and is open to solo swimmers and teams of two or four. A second event, "Champions of the Channel" for elite solo swimmers, was introduced in 2016. The "Lavan Legal Charity Challenge" is an exclusive challenge for 30 teams of four for those who wish to fundraise money for a charity of their choice while competing for the Lavan Legal Charity Challenge Cup.
History.
When Rottnest Island was used as a prison it was rumoured that some of the prisoners swam back to the mainland, although there is no proof that any did. However some may have crossed by resting on Carnac and Garden Islands. The first documented crossing by a swimmer was Gerd Von Dincklage-Schulenburg, 24 January 1956, in 9 hours and 45 minutes. As of October 2016 von Dinklage was aged 87, and living in the German town of Dörentrup. 
First race, early years.
Von Dincklages' swim led the "Weekend Mail" newspaper to hold the first organised race to the island later that year, in March 1956, which was completed by four participants. 
The first woman to swim to the island was 23 year-old Lesley Cherriman on 13 April 1969. The youngest swimmer to compete was Kutraleeswaran from Tamil Nadu, India, who completed the swim at the age of 13 in 1994.
The Rottnest Channel Swim Association (RCSA) was formed in 1989. John Whitehead was its first president.
Despite the modest success of the 1956 event, another organised race to the island would not be held until 23 February 1991, with sixteen solo swimmers and seven teams competing, a total of 44 swimmers. The solo event was won in 4:30:03 by Peter Galvin. The success of the swim led to it becoming an annual event. 
By 1996, the race had 52 solos, 34 duos, and 135 teams for a total of 660 swimmers. David O'Brien came first, Brian Parker was second, and Shelley Taylor-Smith came third. The RCSA president was John Guilfoyle.
In 1998 the Rottnest Channel Swim had 1,150 participants, and officially, was the world’s biggest open water swimming event.
In 2001 Travis and Jarrad Nederpelt set a duo race record with a time of 3:55:54.
From 2004 swimmers were put into categories, and only 100 were allowed to start at a time. The team record was set to 3:43:02.
Due to the popularity of the race, and the number of support boats for the now 2,300 entrants, a ballot has been held since 2006 to limit the number of participants in the water at the same time.
The race was not held in 2007 due to very poor weather, its only cancellation.
In 2018 the male solo race record of 3:59:28 was set by Solomon Wright. The prior record was set in 2000 by Mark Saliba at 4:00:15.
In 2018 the female solo race record of 4:21:55 was set by Heidi Gan.
2020.
Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 30th channel swim was still held on 22 February 2020. The line honours winner was Dutchman Lars Bottelier, finishing in 4 hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds. Will Rollo finished in second place in 4:22:16 and Kyle Lee finished third in 4:25:30. The first female solo swimmer across the line was Zoe Whitfield, of NSW in a time of 4:48:09, just ahead of Josie Page in second place at 4:48:42. In 2018 and 2019 Page finished in third place.
2021.
As of 7 July 2020 the 31st channel swim was scheduled for 20 February 2021. More than 2,500 swimmers are expected to take part, leaving Cottesloe Beach in groups, between 5:45am and 7:45am. Registrations for solos, tandem solos and charity teams opened on 26 October and closed 1 November 2020. Duos and teams could register from 4–8 November 2020. A seminar for swimmers on how to prepare for the race was held at HBF Stadium (Perth Superdrome) on 16 September 2020.