The Dwight Crum Pier-To-Pier Swim Is Back

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA —Swimmers, it's time to start training. The 2021 Dwight Crum Swim-to-Swim takes place on August 1, and registration has opened.

The Pier-to-Pier Swim is one of the most popular long-distance swims in the United States. In 2019 over 1200 swimmers completed this grueling two-mile course. Swimmers enter the water on the south side of the 10th Street Lifeguard Tower (South of the Hermosa Beach Pier). They swim around the Pier, parallel to shore then around the Manhattan Beach Pier, and finish on the beach.

"The Pier to Pier Swim has become a South Bay tradition," Race Director Gary Crum told Patch. "People literally plan their vacations around this. Multiple generations of the same family participate together. Many even fly in from other places. We're very excited it's back."

The youngest person to participate was eight years old and the oldest was 80, Gary said.

Gary is the son of Dwight Crum, the South Bay lifeguard who served as the first chairman of the International Surf Festival when it was created in 1963. The race was named after Crum in 1972 after he retired, Gary said. Crum passed away in 200 at the age of 77.

Gary said he began participating in the race once it was named after his father.

Last year's swim was canceled for the first time in the event's 58-year history due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Any contestant who did not complete the 2019 Pier-to-Pier swim must register for the swim on-line and then pass a 500-meter “check out” swim. Swim “check outs” will be held at the Hermosa Beach Pier on July 10th, 17th, and 18th from 9-11 a.m. Decisions of Lifeguards at “check out” are final.

2019 Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim finishers are exempt from “check out.” The swim will again be conducted in three heats. The first heat, male swimsuit, will start at 9 a.m. The second heat, female swimsuit & wetsuit, will start at 9:05 a.m. The third heat, male wetsuit, will start at 9:10 a.m.

Online registration for the swim is available at https://www.surffestival.org/swim.

Entry fees for the swim are $50 from now until June 30 and $60 from July 1 until the registration deadline on July 18th.

Additional race information is available on the FAQ page.