Portland Bridge Swim

The coolest businesses in PDX are the ones that support epic adventures! A huge thank you to Portland Oculoplastics and Dr. Scot Sullivan. Scot has participated in many years of the Portland Bridge Swim, both as a swimmer and board member. This year, his practice is our Gold Sponsor, helping cover the shuttle costs for the event. Thank you, Portland Oculoplastics! https://portlandoculoplastics.com/

🚨 Calling all swimmers, kayakers, paddleboarders, cheerleaders, snack distributors, and people who simply enjoy organized aquatic chaos 🚨

The Portland Bridge Swim is back on July 12, 2026! 🌉🏊‍♂️

Have you ever looked at the Willamette River and thought:
👉 “I should swim under ALL those bridges.”
👉 “I own a whistle and could absolutely direct people with confidence.”
👉 “This city needs more swim events.”

Perfect. We need YOU.

We’re recruiting:
🏊 Swimmers (30 slots left)
🙌 Volunteers
🚣 Kayakers & safety crew
📋 People who enjoy clipboards and feeling important
🎉 Enthusiastic humans who can clap loudly at 7am

No Olympic medals required. If you can swim, paddle, cheer, organize, hand out medals, or yell “YOU GOT THIS!” like you mean it, you belong here.

Come be part of one of Portland’s weirdest and most wonderful summer traditions. Because nothing says “community bonding” quite like voluntarily swimming 11 miles through downtown or volunteering to enable all those merpeople before most people have had coffee.

Join us for the fun, the views, the bragging rights, and the inevitable “wait… you did WHAT?” conversations afterward.

Sign up, volunteer, or learn more:

Event Info ~ Portland Bridge Swim An epic ultra-marathon open water swim event held in Portland, OR. The event is just over 11 miles, passing under 12 bridges, and swimmers get to experience the ebb and flow the tidal Willamette River.

As the weather gets cold, our team gets to work planning the Portland Bridge Swim: getting permits, booking vendors, and getting into the nitty gritty details. We're so excited to announce the race date for next year will be July 12, 2026!

As you know, it's impossible to put on this event without volunteers. Our organization is 100% volunteer-run, with the race director, safety team, planning committee, and day-of folks all volunteering to put on this epic event for our swimming community. If you're able to help, sign up here: https://runsignup.com/Race/Volunteer/OR/Portland/PortlandBridgeSwim. If you're interested in helping put on the race as an organizer, let us know!

"What was I thinking"

The 11-mile Portland Bridge Swim was a test of my endurance but a welcome introduction to ultramarathon-distance open water swimming.

By David McGlynn

Photographs by: Katherine McGlynn

$name Log in to your U.S. Masters Swimming account.