The 109-year La Jolla tradition was called off four days ahead due to unsafe swimming conditions caused by recent high tides and ‘significant’ beach erosion.
The 110th La Jolla Cove Swim will have to wait another year: the longstanding event set for Sunday, Sept 13 was canceled Sept 9 due to unsafe swimming conditions caused by recent high tides and “significant beach erosion,” according to race director Aaron Brennan.
A site inspection Sept 8 revealed “there is effectively no rock-free beach available at race time for you to safely enter and exit the water,” Brennan wrote in an email to the 1,107 registered swimmers.
San Diego lifeguards agreed that the anticipated conditions would not support a safe start and finish, Brennan said.
“Safety is paramount.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” Brennan told lajolla.ca, “to spend nine months preparing for this and have it not be feasible. … But it’s not safe for people to be in waist-deep water at risk of pushing into the rocks.”
The La Jolla Cove Swim was originally named the La Jolla Rough Water Swim and debuted in 1916 as a sporting event attached to San Diego’s Panama-California Exposition. Only one other Boston-based open water swim is older.
The race has only had a handful of cancellations including one for bacteria levels, a shark attack in the days prior and during COVID restrictions.
Registrants for the 2026 event can either defer their non-refundable fees to the 2027 La Jolla Cove Swim or choose to donate their fees to the Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego County, the yearslong beneficiary of the race that has received $100,000 in proceeds for youth swim lessons and more.
