This event benefits the March of Dimes, the Chesapeake Bay Trust, the US Coast guard, and other local charities. The 2026 Great Chesapeake Bay Swim is doing a Sunrise Swim in 2026! Race Day is June 14th, 2026, with a 6:30am start time for the 4.4 Mile Swim. We are currently planning on having the 1 Mile Swim begin at 7:30am.The 1 Mile Start time is subject to final approval. Two emails have gone out. One to the 2025 4.4 Mile Swimmers with information about the Early Bird program (complete the 4.4 mile swim with us and receive a special offer for the following year). The other email has gone out to our 2024 4.4 Mile Swimmers who were unable to join us in 2025. If you fall in to either of these categories and didn't receive an email from us on Sept 30th, 2025, please reach out ASAP at info@bayswim.com Don't forget, our newly designed site (www.BaySwim.com) and our email of info@bayswim.com are your sources for all of your up to date information!!! CURRENT WATER TEMPERATURE READINGS https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=44063 Don't forget to follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/greatchesapeakebayswim !!
If you have, you know that we celebrate longevity awards at the conclusion, starting with your 10th Crossing (and yes, the "short" year still counts) Take a look at the list below and if you think you should be on it, please reach out to us at info@bayswim.com Please note, this is NOT an invitation to say "How many times have I crossed?" There is an entire tab at www.BaySwim.com (Archives) that you can look that up. ;) 2025 4.4 Mile Longevity Awards 34 Rodney Peltzer 29 Rober
AWARDS GCBS 4.4 2022 (Scroll down to locate the 1 mile Awards) Overall Winners do not duplicate in their age group divisions Top 3 Overall Male & Female Finishers First Overall Male & Female 40+ Finishers *Recognition to the First Overall Male & Female Finishers Who Do Not Swim Wearing a Wetsuit First Male & Female Finishers Physically Challenged Division Age Group Divisions - Top 3 Males & Females 14 & Under 15–19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64
THE CYNTHIA EARLEY SCHOLARSHIP AWARD The Cynthia Earley Scholarship will be awarded to the undergraduate student individual who raises the most money in contributions to the March of Dimes. The amount of the scholarship prize is $1,000 to go toward that individual’s education. It has been generously donated by Mr. Brian Earley, the founder of the Chesapeake Bay Swim, in honor and remembrance of his mother Cynthia Earley who passed away in 1998. Please take this wonderful and generous offer to he
| Distance | Price | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.4 Miles | $350.00 | Oct 1 | Dec 31 |
| 1 Miles | $75.00 | Jan 1 | Jun 8 |
In 2024, we had the misfortune of having to cancel the event, with everyone on land watching and waiting. We sent out emails and let you know that you, as a 4.4 mile swimmer, would have the opportunity to bypass the lottery and pay a reduced fee for 2025. That $250 fee will go to offset the cost of the new event, and we hope that you will consider making a donation so that we can give our regular donation to our charitable partners (March of Dimes, Chesapeake Bay Trust, US Coast Guard, etc) This
1) What is a lottery? The lottery system lets us know who is interested in swimming the 2023 Great Chesapeake Bay Swim, being held on June 11th, 2023 at 8am. It says that you WANT to be able to swim, and from that pool or interested parties, 650 of you will be chosen to swim with us. 2) Will I receive a refund from the lottery if not chosen? Your credit card information is held by our financial company, but is NOT charged until you are selected for the lottery. Therefore, if you aren't selec
| Year | Finishers | Median Time | Fastest Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 179 | 35:57 | 22:43 |
| 2023 | 126 | 30:08 | 19:24 |
| 2022 | 148 | 30:28 | 17:47 |
| Year | Finishers | Median Time | Fastest Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 163 | 2:27:44 | 1:49:48 |
| 2023 | 354 | 2:41:43 | 1:39:55 |
Interested in this race?
Did you know that we have a dedicated group of volunteers who pour through all of the results from past years and post them up on the Bay Swim Archives page for all to look at. That website is http://bayswim.awardspace.info/index.html One of the special things that we do is to award LONGEVITY AWARDS to our swimmers, starting at 10 years and going every 5 years after that. We want to invite everyone to check the list below and let us know if we've missed you in our count. We want to make sure
RJA Perseverance Award The third annual Perseverance Award, sponsored by the Robert J. Astheimer Memorial Foundation, will be presented at this year's GCBS. The Award will recognize one or more individuals who have overcome a physical, mental or emotional challenge to enable a personal achievement and/or to make significant contributions to family, community, or country. The award is open to swimmers and their family members, GCBS organizers and supporters. Nominations of no more than two pa
4.4 Miles: Long Sleeve T-Shirt
1 Miles: T-Shirt
| 2022 |
| 485 |
| 2:25:16 |
| 1:30:32 |