Portland Bridge Swim

Swim 11 Miles Through Downtown Portland

Registration

The 2027 race is scheduled for Sunday, July 11, 2027.  Registration will open at 12:01 AM PST on January 1, 2027.

 

Portland Bridge Swim Rules 2026

We’re so excited for you to join us for the Portland Bridge Swim and to experience our lovely city.  As part of the registration form, you’ll be asked to provide information regarding your qualifying swim. Your qualifying swim is incredibly important for 2 reasons:

  1. Your qualifying swim indicates your long-distance swimming ability and commitment to training for the event
  2. Your qualifying time will help the race planning team seed you into the right wave

You’ll be asked to provide the distance (5000m or 5500 yds), date of completion (must be within 3 years before the date of the race itself), and observer information.  The qualifying swim MUST be completed in a pool – not open water. To qualify, swimmers must show that they have completed a minimum 5000 m/5500 yd swim faster than 1 hour, 40 minutes, within 3 years of race day. Swimmers who cannot complete one mile in open water in 35 minutes should NOT enter.

Yes – you do have to do the qualifying swim BEFORE registration.
No – you cannot do the qualifying swim after registering.
Yes – we do contact the observer via random sampling.
No – you should not “fudge” a time; swimmers who have not accurately reported their qualifying time have been seeded incorrectly and have been pulled due to missing the race cutoff.  It happens every year, and we don’t want it to happen to you!
Yes – you must complete the qualifying swim in a pool.  We will not accept open water swim times, as the environment/conditions are so varied.
No – we will not accept a calculated time, like just doubling a 2.5k swim or 5 x 1000 time.  Please complete the 5000m or 5000 yd qualifier.

 

Kayaker Info During Registration

Every swimmer is required to have an escort paddler, either on a kayak or a paddleboard.  We do have a limited number of rental kayaks that will be dropped off at Sellwood Riverfront Park the morning of the race and picked up from the finish line.  You can purchase a rental kayak via the registration portal, either during your initial registration, or afterward by managing your registration.  Each swimmer is expected to find their own paddler, as it’s a big commitment.  Having a paddler who knows your swim habits and what you’ll need during the race that you get along with really well is a massive portion of the race.  The race planning team offers a swimmer/paddler info session in the weeks leading up to the event, and we’re always happy to discuss paddler responsibilities and speak with paddlers who need guidance.

If you need help finding a paddler, we recommend posting in the Portland swimming and paddling Facebook groups and reaching out to local masters swim teams.  You can also find a list of resources on our FAQ page.  We have a wonderful community of local paddlers who volunteer to help our swimmers.  Here are some places you can post to recruit a paddler:
Oregon Wild Swimming
Western Washington Open Water Swimmers
Portland Bridge Swim Participants and Crew
Standup Portland
Masters Swimming Groups
Swimmer & Kayaker Open Water Connections

During the registration process, you will be asked to provide your paddler information.  It is not a required field to grab your slot, so if you haven’t found a paddler before registering, you’re able to complete the process and leave those fields blank temporarily.  You will be expected to update your paddler’s information as soon as possible.

Escort Paddler Tips 2026

Medical History/Known Allergies/Medical Info

During the registration process, we ask for the swimmers’ and paddlers’ medical info regarding any known allergies or conditions.  This is incredibly important information for our safety team; we are able to create a plan to support everyone on the water if we have lifesaving information.  Please be accurate and don’t withhold lifesaving information that we may need to provide a first responder.  Examples include: “I’ve experienced SIPE in the past,” or “I have a severe allergy to XYZ and carry an EPI pen.”  If we believe we need to modify our safety plan based on the information, we’ll contact you well ahead of the race.

Other helpful links:

We hope to see you in the river!  Email info@portlandbridgeswim.com with any questions.

 

Registration form here: https://runsignup.com/Race/OR/Portland/PortlandBridgeSwim

 


How do I modify my registration?

You can manage your registration (update kayaker information, modify add-ons, etc.) by following these steps: https://help.runsignup.com/support/solutions/articles/17000062914-question-response-management.

1) Click the “Manage Registration” link in your registration email OR log into RunSignUp and find this event under “My Races” then click “Manage Registration”
2) Navigate to the “QUESTIONS” tab in the top navigation pane, located between SIGN WAIVER and ADD-ONS
3) Change your response to the applicable questions
4) Be sure to press “Update Responses” at the bottom of the page