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A marathon swimmer doing front crawl through choppy, sunlit open water.

Africa’s Marathon Swimming. Documented. Verified. Remembered.

An independent, nonprofit association being established to ratify marathon swims in African waters, document significant routes and crossings, and preserve the continent’s swimming history.

Pioneer a new route Swim an existing route Become an observer

Founding phase. Draft rules published; applications opening soon, and ratification is intended to be free. Read how it will work.

Each dot marks the general area of a route AMSA lists. Explore the map

One continent. One consistent, independent standard.

AMSA exists to give African marathon swims of 10 km or more a credible, transparent and internationally aligned home: from the swim itself, to the evidence behind it, to the record that outlasts it. It is not a racing federation.

Document

We record African marathon swims and the routes they follow, from start and finish to distance, conditions and context, to a consistent, published standard.

Verify

Swims are assessed against AMSA’s published rules, in the Traditional Skins or Assisted category, using evidence gathered by an independent observer and assessed by independent reviewers with no stake in the swim.

Preserve

We research and archive Africa’s marathon-swimming history, keeping verified evidence, reliable documentation and unverified claims clearly apart.

Africa’s next great crossing is waiting for its first swimmer.

AMSA exists to encourage new swims as much as to record past ones. Africa’s coasts, lakes and rivers hold countless crossings that have never been documented. If you are planning one, bring it to us, so that your swim can become the first on the record.

  1. Step 1

    Propose your route

    Tell us where you want to swim: the start, the finish, the water and why it matters. Ambitious, remote and never-before-attempted routes are especially welcome.

  2. Step 2

    Define it together

    AMSA would work with you to set the start and finish points, the standard distance and the rules it is swum under, published as a numbered route version that every future swimmer can follow.

  3. Step 3

    Swim it, observed

    Once the rules are adopted and applications open, you swim with an independent observer on your escort vessel, in the Traditional Skins or Assisted category, and a ratified first completion goes on the permanent record.

Propose a route How ratification will work Draft process

Route proposals are welcome now through our contact page. AMSA ratifies solo marathon swims of 10 km or longer. Shorter, geographically significant crossings are welcome as suggestions for a separate designation, provisionally called the AMSA Recognised Crossing, which is not yet open. Applications open once AMSA’s rules are adopted, and a defined route never replaces maritime permissions or your own safety planning.

Known routes we are researching

Some routes are already ratified by another body, such as CLDSA in Cape Town, and AMSA credits that ratification. Many others have no ratifying body at all, and they are all welcome at AMSA. Select a marker to see where each listed route stands today, and who, if anyone, ratifies swims there.

See all routes →
Map of Africa marking research-candidate marathon-swimming locations: Strait of Gibraltar, Dakar coast, Bioko to Cameroon, Walvis Bay to Swakopmund, three Western Cape locations, Umhlanga to Durban and Maputo Bay TROPIC OF CANCER EQUATOR 0° TROPIC OF CAPRICORN STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR DAKAR COAST BIOKO–CAMEROON WALVIS BAY–SWAKOPMUND WESTERN CAPE (3) UMHLANGA–DURBAN MAPUTO BAY
  • Ratified by another body
  • No ratifying body, welcome at AMSA
  • Research candidate
  • Photograph location

African waters

Oceans, seas, lakes and coastlines from across the continent.

  • Rocky shore and the Atlantic at Essaouira, Morocco.
    Essaouira, Morocco · Atlantic Ocean
  • Clear, still Red Sea water over rocks at Nuweiba, with the Sinai mountains beyond.
    Nuweiba, Sinai, Egypt · Red Sea
  • Volcanic rocks and clear, shallow water on the Atlantic shore at Dakar.
    Dakar, Senegal · Atlantic Ocean
  • A wooden fishing boat with its crew in the surf at Elmina, Ghana.
    Elmina, Ghana · Gulf of Guinea, Atlantic Ocean
  • Men rowing a wooden fishing boat on Lake Victoria near Kisumu, framed by a window.
    Lake Victoria, Kisumu, Kenya · Lake Victoria
  • Waves running up a long white-sand beach at Diani, on Kenya’s south coast.
    Diani Beach, Kenya · Indian Ocean
  • Two people in a small boat on the calm blue water of Lake Malawi, with hills beyond.
    Lake Malawi · Lake Malawi
  • Aerial view of a sandy spit, a village and turquoise Indian Ocean water at Arimba, Mozambique.
    Arimba, Mozambique · Indian Ocean
  • A sailing canoe on turquoise water off Madagascar, with mountains beyond.
    Madagascar · Indian Ocean
  • Clear turquoise water over a sandy bottom, with a palm-lined shore beyond, in Mauritius.
    Mauritius · Indian Ocean
  • Aerial view of green hills meeting the lagoon and reef at Le Morne, Mauritius.
    Le Morne, Mauritius · Indian Ocean
  • Aerial view of desert dunes meeting Atlantic surf in the Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia.
    Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia · Atlantic Ocean
  • A swimmer in an ocean tidal pool in Durban, with waves breaking beyond the pool wall.
    Durban · Indian Ocean
  • A yacht on open water between sandstone headlands at Knysna.
    Knysna, South Africa · Indian Ocean
  • A whale’s tail rising out of the blue water off Hermanus.
    Hermanus, Walker Bay · Atlantic Ocean
  • Clifton beach and turquoise Atlantic water below the Twelve Apostles, Cape Town.
    Clifton, Cape Town · Atlantic Ocean
  • Table Mountain and Cape Town across Table Bay, seen from the rocky shore of Robben Island.
    Robben Island, Table Bay · Atlantic Ocean
  • A wave breaking below boulders and hillside houses on Cape Town’s Atlantic coast.
    Cape Town · Atlantic Ocean

Photographs from Unsplash, used under the Unsplash License. They show the waters, not swims recorded by AMSA. Photo credits

Six steps from plan to public record

The process AMSA proposes to adopt, run online with as little manual administration as possible. Applications are opening soon: the rules, ratification policy and observer standards must be adopted, and independent reviewers appointed, first.

Proposed process · Not yet adopted
  1. Step 1

    Pre-swim planning

    Before the attempt, the swimmer registers the swim online: the route, the date window, the declared ruleset and category (Traditional Skins or Assisted), escort and safety arrangements, permissions, and a proposed observer.

    Planning a swim with AMSA is not approval, and never ratification.

  2. Step 2

    Independent observer

    At least one independent, AMSA-approved observer, who is not part of the swimmer’s crew, declares any conflict of interest and watches the swim from start to finish.

    Observer approval is not yet open.

  3. Step 3

    Evidence capture

    The observer’s log, timestamps, a GPS track wherever reasonably practicable, feeds, conditions, incidents, photographs and video, captured to a standard format and submitted digitally through Swim Ops, AMSA’s designated platform.

    Original evidence is kept with its source and timestamps. Corrections never overwrite it.

  4. Step 4

    Independent review

    Two non-conflicted reviewers assess the evidence against the adopted rules and must agree. Software may flag gaps for them; it never decides.

    Founders and office-bearers take no part in reviewing their own swims.

  5. Step 5

    Decision and appeal

    A decision with recorded reasons. Disagreement, unusual evidence or an exceptional case goes to a fresh three-person panel. Appeals are heard by people not involved in the original decision.

    No platform, payment or membership can grant ratification.

  6. Step 6

    Publication after approval

    Only an approved swim is published, showing the ruleset, category and route version it was swum under.

    Sensitive evidence and personal information are never published without consent.

The record starts here.

Register not yet open

No swims have been ratified yet.

The register opens once AMSA’s rules are adopted and independent reviewers are appointed. Ratified swims will appear with their swim ID and evidence summary. Figures for AMSA-ratified swims, recognised routes, historically documented swims and approved observers are published only once they are true, directly from the register.

Browse the records register Governance and draft rules →

Know of a historical African swim? Help us document it.

Newspaper reports, logbooks, photographs, original certificates and witness accounts can all help preserve swims that happened before AMSA existed.

Every contribution is moderated before publication. Historical swims are not ratified retrospectively; they are classified by the strength of their evidence under a separate historical records policy.

Share historical information How records are classified

How a historical entry is classified (draft policy)

  • Ratified by [original body]

    Ratified at the time by another recognised organisation. AMSA records the original decision and links to its source.

  • Historically documented

    Supported by independent evidence or reliable secondary documentation, reviewed by AMSA researchers.

  • Historical claim, unverified

    Reported but not yet supported by sufficient evidence. Published only with this label, and open to further research.

A swimmer in open water under grey skies, seen from the escort boat.

Help build Africa’s network of independent observers.

Every ratified swim will depend on an independent observer on the escort vessel, documenting the swim against the rules. We are building a list of people across the continent who could take on that role: experienced marathon and open-water swimmers, swimming officials and maritime professionals.

No observers are approved or accredited yet.

Register interest as an observer

Our core philosophy

Read our philosophy in full →
  • Independence
  • Credibility
  • Transparency
  • Accessibility
  • Minimal bureaucracy
  • Technology-driven administration
  • Promotion of marathon swimming across Africa