Swimrun Italy

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 season!

Swimrun 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 Italian swimrun series now has quite a few events, starting in April and running through to October, with one final event in December on the list!

Swimrun Italy Events 2023 calendar

There are 2 National Championship events planned for 2023;

On the 23rd July there is the Bologna Swimrun event for couples.

On the 23rd September there is the Aquaticrunner event for individual competitors and also the IWC Individual World Championship event Aquaticrunner Lignano - Grado.

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 2022 event
100 Athletes who qualified at an event in the 2022 or 2023 seasons
50 Athletes with a sports qualification

There is a series of swimrun events around the world that act as qualifying events for the Lignano - Grado event. They are;

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!