Thank you for supporting the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA). Your participation enables the growth of a lively community of open water swimmers. It also helps with safety and education initiatives and to uphold the high standards of sportsmanship and integrity.
Educational Knowledge Base: Your donations help maintain our online knowledge base. It includes rules, regulations, and guidelines for open water swimming. We provide swimmers, organizers, and associations with necessary resources like:
- Rules & Regulations: Detailed guidelines for safe and fair event conduct.
- Swim Ratification Documentation Reference: Standards for validating swimming achievements.
- Observer Log Template: Standardized templates for recording swim details.
- WOWSA Code of Conduct: Expected behavior standards for all participants.
- Marathon Swimming Rules & Regulations: Guidelines for long-distance swims.
By contributing, you are supporting the extensive archive in our database that documents historical and current information about open water swimming. This database includes:
- Worldwide Swimming Associations and Federations: Detailed records of global federations and associations.
- Guinness World Records: Updated collection of records related to open water swimming.
- Global Marathon Swimming Guide: Information on marathon swimming associations.
- Oceans Seven Associations: Resources for swimmers attempting prestigious swims.
- Swimmer Database: Records of swimmers and their achievements.
- Updating and Historical Research: Continuous updates to ensure accuracy.
WOWSA Certified Events: Donations help support race directors in providing the highest standard of safety and organization for open water swimming events. Benefits of certified events include:
- Access to safety courses and expert reviews.
- Dedicated WOWSA pages with official race results and event profiles.
WOWSA Ratification Process: Your support allows us to officially recognize and document open water swims. The process includes reviewing pre-swim planning forms, analyzing safety plans, and validating achievements through collected documentation.
Education Programs: Contributions fund a variety of educational courses in English and Spanish, supporting swimmers and coaches with training and certification. Our programs cover safety, coaching techniques, and more, ensuring high-quality training for all participants.
News and Announcements: Donations allow us to keep the community up-to-date with the latest news, insights, and educational resources. Our news section features official statements, top articles, and recommended books and podcasts.
Directory: Your support helps us maintain our directory, a central hub for the open water swimming community. The directory provides easy access to upcoming events, vacation camps, clinics, swim communities, coaches, and associations, facilitating connections and promoting global events.
WOWSA Awards: Contributions help us celebrate outstanding achievements within the global open water swimming community through the annual WOWSA Awards, recognizing swimmers, products, services, and events.
Please note that WOWSA has the ultimate authority to use contributions at our discretion for purposes consistent with our mission. This allows us to allocate resources where they are most needed to achieve our goals.
For non-credit card contributions, please fill out our donation form, which details our mission and how your donation will be used to support our programs.
Thank you for your generosity and commitment to the open water swimming community!
Contributions to the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) are tax-deductible.
The World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) is a non-profit public benefit 501(c)(3) corporation and is operated exclusively for educational and charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. WOWSA is not organized and shall not be operated for the private gain of any person. The property of the corporation is irrevocably dedicated to its educational and charitable purposes and no part of the receipts, or net earnings of the corporation shall be used for any activities other than its mission. WOWSA will always retain control over the contributed funds and will provide the relative information regarding its activities on its website: www.openwaterswimming.com.