Swimrun Italy

Updated November 2025

Swimrun Italy has one of the biggest event calendars we have seen when it comes to swimrun events - too many for us to list in our main calendars, so here is a link to the swimrun Italy home page with a .pdf of the entire 2025 season! It has 15 events listed.

In addition, SOME of these events are part of a CIRCUIT which has a different website under the name Domani Arriva Sempre - "Tomorrow Always Comes" - but this website is not always kept up to date!

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Gold Series 2025

Swimrun Italy

The DAS events in 2025 were as follows;

27 April - Amphibianman - Lignano - Sprint

8 June - Swimrun del Bilancino - Babberino del Mugello - Half

13 July - The Green Swimrun - Lombardy

13 August - Swimrun del Benacus - S. Felice del Benaco - Sprint

13 September - Santa Maria Navarrese, Sardinia - Sprint and Half

20 September - Challenge Sanremo - Liguria - Sprint and Half

12 October - Breeze - Swimrun Nordico- Emilia Romagna - Sprint

31 December - Cimenti Invernali - Lignano - Supersprint

Swimrun Italy

How did it all start in Italy?

In 2012, two Italians had the idea to run and swim from island to island, starting in Grado and finishing in Lignano Sabbiadoro, involving 5 sandy island in the Marano Lagoon. The men were Francesco Degano and Matteo Benedetti.

At that time, they had not heard of 'swimrun', and had no idea that similar races were already being held in Sweden. The rules were different, as the 2 disciplines evolved separately.

In 2014 it became an international competition, in the opposite direction from Lignano Sabbiadoro to Grado, run by Amphibianman on May 10th, and by Aquaticrunner on August 3rd. These were separate events held by two different organisers, using the same route.

Competitors running over a sandy island in the AquaticRunner Swimrun Italy event

Because of the relatively warm waters, wetsuits were banned as were hand paddles, but pull buoys were compulsory.

There can be very strong currents between the islands - over 5 knots - and so the event was planned for low tide, to minimise the currents and allow for better beach running.

The route from from Lignano Sabbiadoro to Grado covered 24km, of which 4.5km were swimming and 19.5km running. The first Aquaticrunner race was won by Gianni Sartori in a time just under 3 hours.

Two female team members at the finish 2022

Swimrun Italy

The FULL Italian swimrun series now has a few extra events in addition to the DAS circuit, starting in April and running through to October, with one final event in December on the list! Here is the full list from the Swimrun Italy website.

There were 2 National Championship events planned for 2025:

Benacus swimrun on August 3rd 2025
Individual Aquaticrunner Lignano-Grado - date TBC

The Lignano - Grado course now covers 19 transitions for a total distance of 27.1km. The swimming sections cover 5.35km, and the running sections cover 21.75km (equivalent to a Half marathon!)

Prizewinners at the 2022 AquaticRunner Swimrun in Italy

AquaticRunner prizewinners 2022

Individual competitors must use a pull buoy and are allowed to use hand paddles. There is a limit of 250 competitors, who can qualify to register by one of the following 3 methods:

100 Athletes who competed in the 2023 event
100 Athletes who qualified at an event in the 2023 or 2024 seasons
50 Athletes with a sports qualification

There was a series of swimrun events around the world that acted as qualifying events for the Lignano - Grado event. This seems to have lapsed. They were:

Swimrun Uruguay
Swimrun Hydra (Greece)
Swimrun Mudskipper (Canada)
Swimrun Serenissima Venezia
Extreme Man (Hungary)
Ecoswimrun (Belgium)
Triathlon North Africa (Algeria)

The logos of the 6 AquaticRunner qualifying swimrun events

AquaticRunner qualifying events

Other events that may qualify you to take part are the following:

If you have ever done a full IRONMAN distance event
If you have done a HALF IRONMAN distance in the last last two years
If you have done a HALF IRONMAN distance last year
If you have run a MARATHON in the last year, and a HALF IRONMAN distance last year
If you have done a long distance swim race (>4000m) in the last two years, AND run a HALF MARATHON in the last two years
If you have run an ULTRAMARATHON (>84 km) in the last two years, and completed a SWIM RACE over 3000m in the last two years
If you have completed a SWIMRUN RACE DISTANCE of at least 3000m swim AND a 20 km run in the last two years

The whole business of qualifying to enter the main event is rather complicated, as you can see from the above lists. This is confirmed if you go to the main event registration page!

Also, don't forget that you need a medical certificate.

However it is a spectacular race to take part in, and well worth the effort!