Event Spotlight: USLA Delray Beach Ocean Mile Swim

What better way to plan a vacation than to do so around a training or challenge swim? That way, you can convince anyone that's absolutely a needed vacation for you to reach your swim goals! I coach a few folks who use swim events to plan their vacation and training calendar. For instance, if you're training for a 5K in mid-summer, it makes sense to see what your mile time is to start the open water season, right?

An early season swim event, the USLA Delray Beach Ocean Mile Swim is taking place on May 10, 2025. The event is a fundraiser, with the organization a non-profit dedicated to teaching and providing safety.

USLA works to reduce the incidence of death and injury in the aquatic environment through public education, national lifeguard standards, training programs, promotion of high levels of lifeguard readiness, and other means.

The goals for the fundraising for the swim:

1. Teach CPR and first aid to schools and organizations in the community as well as water safety and rip current awareness;

2. Send our nationally ranked competitors to lifesaving competitions to showcase our skills and learn amongst the nations most elite in the industry;

3. Afford members an opportunity to attend educational conferences on drowning prevention held by the USLA;

4. Organize beach clean-ups to inspire the community and spread knowledge about ocean preservation.

If the purpose of the swim doesn't have you navigating to register, perhaps these stunning views of Delray Beach will entice you? I stole these from the Delray Beach USLA Chapter facebook page, the group that puts on the swim:

Why am I posting about a swim event from across the nation? I care about open water safety, and I applaud any swim event that raises funds to create lifesaving trainings and resources for their community. As a co-director for the Portland Bridge Swim, one of my responsibilities is to recruit lifeguard and powerboat volunteers to monitor and support our swimmers. I've found that there isn't a ton of open water lifesaving training in Portland, and I'm really interested in bringing in more certifications for open water lifeguarding so open water races have experienced open water rescue volunteers. I respect that this organization focuses on developing effective lifesaving skills and protocols, and funds it through their own swim event.

For more info about the event: https://usla-delray-beach-chapter.company.site/.